Storing data in a dispersed storage network

ABSTRACT

A method begins by a computing device generating a set of write requests regarding a set of encoded data slices and sending the set of write requests to a set of storage units, where each write request includes an encoded data slice, a corresponding slice name, and a transaction number. The method continues with each of at least some of the storage units generating a write response that includes the transaction number and a list of revision levels corresponding to the slice name. The method continues with the computing device receiving the write responses from the at least some of the storage units, determining a most current revision level based on the lists of revision levels and generating a set of write commit messages, where a write commit message includes the transaction number and a new revision level for the set of encoded data slices.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENTS

The present U.S. Utility patent application claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/086,611, entitled “MAINTAINING DATA INTEGRITY IN A DISPERSED STORAGE NETWORK” filed Dec. 2, 2014, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and made part of the present U.S. Utility patent application for all purposes.

The present U.S. Utility patent application also claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §120 as a continuation-in-part of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 14/792,577, entitled “DISPERSED STORAGE WRITE PROCESS,” filed Jul. 6, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 13/863,475, entitled “DISPERSED STORAGE WRITE PROCESS,” filed Apr. 16, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,092,140, which is a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 12/797,025, entitled “DISPERSED STORAGE WRITE PROCESS,” filed Jun. 9, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,595,435, which claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/230,038, entitled “DISPERSED STORAGE NETWORK VERSION SYNCHRONIZATION,” filed Jul. 30, 2009, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and made part of the present U.S. Utility patent application for all purposes.

U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 13/863,475 also claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §120 as a continuation-in-part patent application of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 12/080,042, entitled, “REBUILDING DATA ON A DISPERSED STORAGE NETWORK,” filed Mar. 31, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,880,799, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 11/973,542, entitled “ENSURING DATA INTEGRITY ON A DISPERSED STORAGE GRID,” filed Oct. 9, 2007; and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 11/403,391, entitled “SYSTEM FOR REBUILDING DISPERSED DATA,” filed Apr. 13, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,546,427, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 11/241,555, entitled “SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND APPARATUS FOR SUBDIVIDING DATA FOR STORAGE IN A DISPERSED DATA STORAGE GRID,” filed Sep. 30, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,953,937, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and made part of the present U.S. Utility patent application for all purposes.

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to computer networks and more particularly to dispersed storage of data and distributed task processing of data.

2. Description of Related Art

Computing devices are known to communicate data, process data, and/or store data. Such computing devices range from wireless smart phones, laptops, tablets, personal computers (PC), work stations, and video game devices, to data centers that support millions of web searches, stock trades, or on-line purchases every day. In general, a computing device includes a central processing unit (CPU), a memory system, user input/output interfaces, peripheral device interfaces, and an interconnecting bus structure.

As is further known, a computer may effectively extend its CPU by using “cloud computing” to perform one or more computing functions (e.g., a service, an application, an algorithm, an arithmetic logic function, etc.) on behalf of the computer. Further, for large services, applications, and/or functions, cloud computing may be performed by multiple cloud computing resources in a distributed manner to improve the response time for completion of the service, application, and/or function. For example, Hadoop is an open source software framework that supports distributed applications enabling application execution by thousands of computers.

In addition to cloud computing, a computer may use “cloud storage” as part of its memory system. As is known, cloud storage enables a user, via its computer, to store files, applications, etc. on an Internet storage system. The Internet storage system may include a RAID (redundant array of independent disks) system and/or a dispersed storage system that uses an error correction scheme to encode data for storage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a distributed computing system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a computing core in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an example of a distributed storage and task processing in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an outbound distributed storage and/or task (DST) processing in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a logic diagram of an example of a method for outbound DST processing in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a dispersed error encoding in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram of an example of a segment processing of the dispersed error encoding in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of an example of error encoding and slicing processing of the dispersed error encoding in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of an example of grouping selection processing of the outbound DST processing in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a diagram of an example of converting data into slice groups in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a DST execution unit in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of an example of operation of a DST execution unit in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an inbound distributed storage and/or task (DST) processing in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a logic diagram of an example of a method for inbound DST processing in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a diagram of an example of de-grouping selection processing of the inbound DST processing in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a dispersed error decoding in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a diagram of an example of de-slicing and error decoding processing of the dispersed error decoding in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a diagram of an example of a de-segment processing of the dispersed error decoding in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a diagram of an example of converting slice groups into data in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a diagram of an example of a distributed storage within the distributed computing system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a schematic block diagram of an example of operation of outbound distributed storage and/or task (DST) processing for storing data in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a dispersed error encoding for the example of FIG. 21 in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 23 is a diagram of an example of converting data into pillar slice groups for storage in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 24 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a storage operation of a DST execution unit in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 25 is a schematic block diagram of an example of operation of inbound distributed storage and/or task (DST) processing for retrieving dispersed error encoded data in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 26 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a dispersed error decoding for the example of FIG. 25 in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 27 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a distributed storage and task processing network (DSTN) module storing a plurality of data and a plurality of task codes in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 28 is a schematic block diagram of an example of the distributed computing system performing tasks on stored data in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 29 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a task distribution module facilitating the example of FIG. 28 in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 30 is a diagram of a specific example of the distributed computing system performing tasks on stored data in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 31 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a distributed storage and task processing network (DSTN) module storing data and task codes for the example of FIG. 30 in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 32 is a diagram of an example of DST allocation information for the example of FIG. 30 in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 33-38 are schematic block diagrams of the DSTN module performing the example of FIG. 30 in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 39 is a diagram of an example of combining result information into final results for the example of FIG. 30 in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 40A-B are schematic block diagrams of an embodiment of a dispersed storage network in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 40C is a flowchart illustrating an example of storing data in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 41A-B are schematic block diagrams of another embodiment of a dispersed storage network in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 41C is a flowchart illustrating another example of storing data in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 42A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a dispersed storage network in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 42B is a flowchart illustrating an example of performing memory device maintenance tasks in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 43A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a dispersed storage network in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 43B is a flowchart illustrating an example of prioritizing storage unit utilization in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 44A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a dispersed storage network in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 44B is a flowchart illustrating an example of prioritizing rebuilding of encoded data slices in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 45A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a dispersed storage network in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 45B is a flowchart illustrating an example of prioritizing replacement of failed memory devices in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 46A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a dispersed storage network in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 46B is a flowchart illustrating another example of prioritizing rebuilding of encoded data slices in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 47A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a dispersed storage network in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 47B is a flowchart illustrating an example of redistributing encoded data slices in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 48A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a dispersed storage network in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 48B is a flowchart illustrating an example of maintaining data integrity in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a distributed computing system 10 that includes a user device 12 and/or a user device 14, a distributed storage and/or task (DST) processing unit 16, a distributed storage and/or task network (DSTN) managing unit 18, a DST integrity processing unit 20, and a distributed storage and/or task network (DSTN) module 22. The components of the distributed computing system 10 are coupled via a network 24, which may include one or more wireless and/or wire lined communication systems; one or more private intranet systems and/or public internet systems; and/or one or more local area networks (LAN) and/or wide area networks (WAN).

The DSTN module 22 includes a plurality of distributed storage and/or task (DST) execution units 36 that may be located at geographically different sites (e.g., one in Chicago, one in Milwaukee, etc.). Each of the DST execution units is operable to store dispersed error encoded data and/or to execute, in a distributed manner, one or more tasks on data. The tasks may be a simple function (e.g., a mathematical function, a logic function, an identify function, a find function, a search engine function, a replace function, etc.), a complex function (e.g., compression, human and/or computer language translation, text-to-voice conversion, voice-to-text conversion, etc.), multiple simple and/or complex functions, one or more algorithms, one or more applications, etc.

Each of the user devices 12-14, the DST processing unit 16, the DSTN managing unit 18, and the DST integrity processing unit 20 include a computing core 26 and may be a portable computing device and/or a fixed computing device. A portable computing device may be a social networking device, a gaming device, a cell phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a digital music player, a digital video player, a laptop computer, a handheld computer, a tablet, a video game controller, and/or any other portable device that includes a computing core. A fixed computing device may be a personal computer (PC), a computer server, a cable set-top box, a satellite receiver, a television set, a printer, a fax machine, home entertainment equipment, a video game console, and/or any type of home or office computing equipment. User device 12 and DST processing unit 16 are configured to include a DST client module 34.

With respect to interfaces, each interface 30, 32, and 33 includes software and/or hardware to support one or more communication links via the network 24 indirectly and/or directly. For example, interface 30 supports a communication link (e.g., wired, wireless, direct, via a LAN, via the network 24, etc.) between user device 14 and the DST processing unit 16. As another example, interface 32 supports communication links (e.g., a wired connection, a wireless connection, a LAN connection, and/or any other type of connection to/from the network 24) between user device 12 and the DSTN module 22 and between the DST processing unit 16 and the DSTN module 22. As yet another example, interface 33 supports a communication link for each of the DSTN managing unit 18 and DST integrity processing unit 20 to the network 24.

The distributed computing system 10 is operable to support dispersed storage (DS) error encoded data storage and retrieval, to support distributed task processing on received data, and/or to support distributed task processing on stored data. In general and with respect to DS error encoded data storage and retrieval, the distributed computing system 10 supports three primary operations: storage management, data storage and retrieval (an example of which will be discussed with reference to FIGS. 20-26), and data storage integrity verification. In accordance with these three primary functions, data can be encoded, distributedly stored in physically different locations, and subsequently retrieved in a reliable and secure manner. Such a system is tolerant of a significant number of failures (e.g., up to a failure level, which may be greater than or equal to a pillar width minus a decode threshold minus one) that may result from individual storage device failures and/or network equipment failures without loss of data and without the need for a redundant or backup copy. Further, the system allows the data to be stored for an indefinite period of time without data loss and does so in a secure manner (e.g., the system is very resistant to attempts at hacking the data).

The second primary function (i.e., distributed data storage and retrieval) begins and ends with a user device 12-14. For instance, if a second type of user device 14 has data 40 to store in the DSTN module 22, it sends the data 40 to the DST processing unit 16 via its interface 30. The interface 30 functions to mimic a conventional operating system (OS) file system interface (e.g., network file system (NFS), flash file system (FFS), disk file system (DFS), file transfer protocol (FTP), web-based distributed authoring and versioning (WebDAV), etc.) and/or a block memory interface (e.g., small computer system interface (SCSI), internet small computer system interface (iSCSI), etc.). In addition, the interface 30 may attach a user identification code (ID) to the data 40.

To support storage management, the DSTN managing unit 18 performs DS management services. One such DS management service includes the DSTN managing unit 18 establishing distributed data storage parameters (e.g., vault creation, distributed storage parameters, security parameters, billing information, user profile information, etc.) for a user device 12-14 individually or as part of a group of user devices. For example, the DSTN managing unit 18 coordinates creation of a vault (e.g., a virtual memory block) within memory of the DSTN module 22 for a user device, a group of devices, or for public access and establishes per vault dispersed storage (DS) error encoding parameters for a vault. The DSTN managing unit 18 may facilitate storage of DS error encoding parameters for each vault of a plurality of vaults by updating registry information for the distributed computing system 10. The facilitating includes storing updated registry information in one or more of the DSTN module 22, the user device 12, the DST processing unit 16, and the DST integrity processing unit 20.

The DS error encoding parameters (e.g., or dispersed storage error coding parameters) include data segmenting information (e.g., how many segments data (e.g., a file, a group of files, a data block, etc.) is divided into), segment security information (e.g., per segment encryption, compression, integrity checksum, etc.), error coding information (e.g., pillar width, decode threshold, read threshold, write threshold, etc.), slicing information (e.g., the number of encoded data slices that will be created for each data segment); and slice security information (e.g., per encoded data slice encryption, compression, integrity checksum, etc.).

The DSTN managing unit 18 creates and stores user profile information (e.g., an access control list (ACL)) in local memory and/or within memory of the DSTN module 22. The user profile information includes authentication information, permissions, and/or the security parameters. The security parameters may include encryption/decryption scheme, one or more encryption keys, key generation scheme, and/or data encoding/decoding scheme.

The DSTN managing unit 18 creates billing information for a particular user, a user group, a vault access, public vault access, etc. For instance, the DSTN managing unit 18 tracks the number of times a user accesses a private vault and/or public vaults, which can be used to generate a per-access billing information. In another instance, the DSTN managing unit 18 tracks the amount of data stored and/or retrieved by a user device and/or a user group, which can be used to generate a per-data-amount billing information.

Another DS management service includes the DSTN managing unit 18 performing network operations, network administration, and/or network maintenance. Network operations includes authenticating user data allocation requests (e.g., read and/or write requests), managing creation of vaults, establishing authentication credentials for user devices, adding/deleting components (e.g., user devices, DST execution units, and/or DST processing units) from the distributed computing system 10, and/or establishing authentication credentials for DST execution units 36. Network administration includes monitoring devices and/or units for failures, maintaining vault information, determining device and/or unit activation status, determining device and/or unit loading, and/or determining any other system level operation that affects the performance level of the system 10. Network maintenance includes facilitating replacing, upgrading, repairing, and/or expanding a device and/or unit of the system 10.

To support data storage integrity verification within the distributed computing system 10, the DST integrity processing unit 20 performs rebuilding of ‘bad’ or missing encoded data slices. At a high level, the DST integrity processing unit 20 performs rebuilding by periodically attempting to retrieve/list encoded data slices, and/or slice names of the encoded data slices, from the DSTN module 22. For retrieved encoded slices, they are checked for errors due to data corruption, outdated version, etc. If a slice includes an error, it is flagged as a ‘bad’ slice. For encoded data slices that were not received and/or not listed, they are flagged as missing slices. Bad and/or missing slices are subsequently rebuilt using other retrieved encoded data slices that are deemed to be good slices to produce rebuilt slices. The rebuilt slices are stored in memory of the DSTN module 22. Note that the DST integrity processing unit 20 may be a separate unit as shown, it may be included in the DSTN module 22, it may be included in the DST processing unit 16, and/or distributed among the DST execution units 36.

To support distributed task processing on received data, the distributed computing system 10 has two primary operations: DST (distributed storage and/or task processing) management and DST execution on received data (an example of which will be discussed with reference to FIGS. 3-19). With respect to the storage portion of the DST management, the DSTN managing unit 18 functions as previously described. With respect to the tasking processing of the DST management, the DSTN managing unit 18 performs distributed task processing (DTP) management services. One such DTP management service includes the DSTN managing unit 18 establishing DTP parameters (e.g., user-vault affiliation information, billing information, user-task information, etc.) for a user device 12-14 individually or as part of a group of user devices.

Another DTP management service includes the DSTN managing unit 18 performing DTP network operations, network administration (which is essentially the same as described above), and/or network maintenance (which is essentially the same as described above). Network operations include, but are not limited to, authenticating user task processing requests (e.g., valid request, valid user, etc.), authenticating results and/or partial results, establishing DTP authentication credentials for user devices, adding/deleting components (e.g., user devices, DST execution units, and/or DST processing units) from the distributed computing system, and/or establishing DTP authentication credentials for DST execution units.

To support distributed task processing on stored data, the distributed computing system 10 has two primary operations: DST (distributed storage and/or task) management and DST execution on stored data. With respect to the DST execution on stored data, if the second type of user device 14 has a task request 38 for execution by the DSTN module 22, it sends the task request 38 to the DST processing unit 16 via its interface 30. An example of DST execution on stored data will be discussed in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 27-39. With respect to the DST management, it is substantially similar to the DST management to support distributed task processing on received data.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a computing core 26 that includes a processing module 50, a memory controller 52, main memory 54, a video graphics processing unit 55, an input/output (IO) controller 56, a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) interface 58, an IO interface module 60, at least one IO device interface module 62, a read only memory (ROM) basic input output system (BIOS) 64, and one or more memory interface modules. The one or more memory interface module(s) includes one or more of a universal serial bus (USB) interface module 66, a host bus adapter (HBA) interface module 68, a network interface module 70, a flash interface module 72, a hard drive interface module 74, and a DSTN interface module 76.

The DSTN interface module 76 functions to mimic a conventional operating system (OS) file system interface (e.g., network file system (NFS), flash file system (FFS), disk file system (DFS), file transfer protocol (FTP), web-based distributed authoring and versioning (WebDAV), etc.) and/or a block memory interface (e.g., small computer system interface (SCSI), internet small computer system interface (iSCSI), etc.). The DSTN interface module 76 and/or the network interface module 70 may function as the interface 30 of the user device 14 of FIG. 1. Further note that the IO device interface module 62 and/or the memory interface modules may be collectively or individually referred to as IO ports.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an example of the distributed computing system performing a distributed storage and task processing operation. The distributed computing system includes a DST (distributed storage and/or task) client module 34 (which may be in user device 14 and/or in DST processing unit 16 of FIG. 1), a network 24, a plurality of DST execution units 1-n that includes two or more DST execution units 36 of FIG. 1 (which form at least a portion of DSTN module 22 of FIG. 1), a DST managing module (not shown), and a DST integrity verification module (not shown). The DST client module 34 includes an outbound DST processing section 80 and an inbound DST processing section 82. Each of the DST execution units 1-n includes a controller 86, a processing module 84, memory 88, a DT (distributed task) execution module 90, and a DST client module 34.

In an example of operation, the DST client module 34 receives data 92 and one or more tasks 94 to be performed upon the data 92. The data 92 may be of any size and of any content, where, due to the size (e.g., greater than a few Terabytes), the content (e.g., secure data, etc.), and/or task(s) (e.g., MIPS intensive), distributed processing of the task(s) on the data is desired. For example, the data 92 may be one or more digital books, a copy of a company's emails, a large-scale Internet search, a video security file, one or more entertainment video files (e.g., television programs, movies, etc.), data files, and/or any other large amount of data (e.g., greater than a few Terabytes).

Within the DST client module 34, the outbound DST processing section 80 receives the data 92 and the task(s) 94. The outbound DST processing section 80 processes the data 92 to produce slice groupings 96. As an example of such processing, the outbound DST processing section 80 partitions the data 92 into a plurality of data partitions. For each data partition, the outbound DST processing section 80 dispersed storage (DS) error encodes the data partition to produce encoded data slices and groups the encoded data slices into a slice grouping 96. In addition, the outbound DST processing section 80 partitions the task 94 into partial tasks 98, where the number of partial tasks 98 may correspond to the number of slice groupings 96. The outbound DST processing section 80 then sends, via the network 24, the slice groupings 96 and the partial tasks 98 to the DST execution units 1-n of the DSTN module 22 of FIG. 1. For example, the outbound DST processing section 80 sends slice group 1 and partial task 1 to DST execution unit 1. As another example, the outbound DST processing section 80 sends slice group #n and partial task #n to DST execution unit #n.

Each DST execution unit performs its partial task 98 upon its slice group 96 to produce partial results 102. For example, DST execution unit #1 performs partial task #1 on slice group #1 to produce a partial result #1, for results. As a more specific example, slice group #1 corresponds to a data partition of a series of digital books and the partial task #1 corresponds to searching for specific phrases, recording where the phrase is found, and establishing a phrase count. In this more specific example, the partial result #1 includes information as to where the phrase was found and includes the phrase count.

Upon completion of generating their respective partial results 102, the DST execution units send, via the network 24, their partial results 102 to the inbound DST processing section 82 of the DST client module 34. The inbound DST processing section 82 processes the received partial results 102 to produce a result 104. Continuing with the specific example of the preceding paragraph, the inbound DST processing section 82 combines the phrase count from each of the DST execution units 36 to produce a total phrase count. In addition, the inbound DST processing section 82 combines the ‘where the phrase was found’ information from each of the DST execution units 36 within their respective data partitions to produce ‘where the phrase was found’ information for the series of digital books.

In another example of operation, the DST client module 34 requests retrieval of stored data within the memory of the DST execution units 36 (e.g., memory of the DSTN module). In this example, the task 94 is retrieve data stored in the memory of the DSTN module. Accordingly, the outbound DST processing section 80 converts the task 94 into a plurality of partial tasks 98 and sends the partial tasks 98 to the respective DST execution units 1-n.

In response to the partial task 98 of retrieving stored data, a DST execution unit 36 identifies the corresponding encoded data slices 100 and retrieves them. For example, DST execution unit #1 receives partial task #1 and retrieves, in response thereto, retrieved slices #1. The DST execution units 36 send their respective retrieved slices 100 to the inbound DST processing section 82 via the network 24.

The inbound DST processing section 82 converts the retrieved slices 100 into data 92. For example, the inbound DST processing section 82 de-groups the retrieved slices 100 to produce encoded slices per data partition. The inbound DST processing section 82 then DS error decodes the encoded slices per data partition to produce data partitions. The inbound DST processing section 82 de-partitions the data partitions to recapture the data 92.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an outbound distributed storage and/or task (DST) processing section 80 of a DST client module 34 FIG. 1 coupled to a DSTN module 22 of a FIG. 1 (e.g., a plurality of n DST execution units 36) via a network 24. The outbound DST processing section 80 includes a data partitioning module 110, a dispersed storage (DS) error encoding module 112, a grouping selector module 114, a control module 116, and a distributed task control module 118.

In an example of operation, the data partitioning module 110 partitions data 92 into a plurality of data partitions 120. The number of partitions and the size of the partitions may be selected by the control module 116 via control 160 based on the data 92 (e.g., its size, its content, etc.), a corresponding task 94 to be performed (e.g., simple, complex, single step, multiple steps, etc.), DS encoding parameters (e.g., pillar width, decode threshold, write threshold, segment security parameters, slice security parameters, etc.), capabilities of the DST execution units 36 (e.g., processing resources, availability of processing recourses, etc.), and/or as may be inputted by a user, system administrator, or other operator (human or automated). For example, the data partitioning module 110 partitions the data 92 (e.g., 100 Terabytes) into 100,000 data segments, each being 1 Gigabyte in size. Alternatively, the data partitioning module 110 partitions the data 92 into a plurality of data segments, where some of data segments are of a different size, are of the same size, or a combination thereof.

The DS error encoding module 112 receives the data partitions 120 in a serial manner, a parallel manner, and/or a combination thereof. For each data partition 120, the DS error encoding module 112 DS error encodes the data partition 120 in accordance with control information 160 from the control module 116 to produce encoded data slices 122. The DS error encoding includes segmenting the data partition into data segments, segment security processing (e.g., encryption, compression, watermarking, integrity check (e.g., CRC), etc.), error encoding, slicing, and/or per slice security processing (e.g., encryption, compression, watermarking, integrity check (e.g., CRC), etc.). The control information 160 indicates which steps of the DS error encoding are active for a given data partition and, for active steps, indicates the parameters for the step. For example, the control information 160 indicates that the error encoding is active and includes error encoding parameters (e.g., pillar width, decode threshold, write threshold, read threshold, type of error encoding, etc.).

The grouping selector module 114 groups the encoded slices 122 of a data partition into a set of slice groupings 96. The number of slice groupings corresponds to the number of DST execution units 36 identified for a particular task 94. For example, if five DST execution units 36 are identified for the particular task 94, the grouping selecting module groups the encoded slices 122 of a data partition into five slice groupings 96. The grouping selector module 114 outputs the slice groupings 96 to the corresponding DST execution units 36 via the network 24.

The distributed task control module 118 receives the task 94 and converts the task 94 into a set of partial tasks 98. For example, the distributed task control module 118 receives a task to find where in the data (e.g., a series of books) a phrase occurs and a total count of the phrase usage in the data. In this example, the distributed task control module 118 replicates the task 94 for each DST execution unit 36 to produce the partial tasks 98. In another example, the distributed task control module 118 receives a task to find where in the data a first phrase occurs, where in the data a second phrase occurs, and a total count for each phrase usage in the data. In this example, the distributed task control module 118 generates a first set of partial tasks 98 for finding and counting the first phase and a second set of partial tasks for finding and counting the second phrase. The distributed task control module 118 sends respective first and/or second partial tasks 98 to each DST execution unit 36.

FIG. 5 is a logic diagram of an example of a method for outbound distributed storage and task (DST) processing that begins at step 126 where a DST client module receives data and one or more corresponding tasks. The method continues at step 128 where the DST client module determines a number of DST units to support the task for one or more data partitions. For example, the DST client module may determine the number of DST units to support the task based on the size of the data, the requested task, the content of the data, a predetermined number (e.g., user indicated, system administrator determined, etc.), available DST units, capability of the DST units, and/or any other factor regarding distributed task processing of the data. The DST client module may select the same DST units for each data partition, may select different DST units for the data partitions, or a combination thereof.

The method continues at step 130 where the DST client module determines processing parameters of the data based on the number of DST units selected for distributed task processing. The processing parameters include data partitioning information, DS encoding parameters, and/or slice grouping information. The data partitioning information includes a number of data partitions, size of each data partition, and/or organization of the data partitions (e.g., number of data blocks in a partition, the size of the data blocks, and arrangement of the data blocks). The DS encoding parameters include segmenting information, segment security information, error encoding information (e.g., dispersed storage error encoding function parameters including one or more of pillar width, decode threshold, write threshold, read threshold, generator matrix), slicing information, and/or per slice security information. The slice grouping information includes information regarding how to arrange the encoded data slices into groups for the selected DST units. As a specific example, if the DST client module determines that five DST units are needed to support the task, then it determines that the error encoding parameters include a pillar width of five and a decode threshold of three.

The method continues at step 132 where the DST client module determines task partitioning information (e.g., how to partition the tasks) based on the selected DST units and data processing parameters. The data processing parameters include the processing parameters and DST unit capability information. The DST unit capability information includes the number of DT (distributed task) execution units, execution capabilities of each DT execution unit (e.g., MIPS capabilities, processing resources (e.g., quantity and capability of microprocessors, CPUs, digital signal processors, co-processor, microcontrollers, arithmetic logic circuitry, and/or and the other analog and/or digital processing circuitry), availability of the processing resources, memory information (e.g., type, size, availability, etc.)), and/or any information germane to executing one or more tasks.

The method continues at step 134 where the DST client module processes the data in accordance with the processing parameters to produce slice groupings. The method continues at step 136 where the DST client module partitions the task based on the task partitioning information to produce a set of partial tasks. The method continues at step 138 where the DST client module sends the slice groupings and the corresponding partial tasks to respective DST units.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the dispersed storage (DS) error encoding module 112 of an outbound distributed storage and task (DST) processing section. The DS error encoding module 112 includes a segment processing module 142, a segment security processing module 144, an error encoding module 146, a slicing module 148, and a per slice security processing module 150. Each of these modules is coupled to a control module 116 to receive control information 160 therefrom.

In an example of operation, the segment processing module 142 receives a data partition 120 from a data partitioning module and receives segmenting information as the control information 160 from the control module 116. The segmenting information indicates how the segment processing module 142 is to segment the data partition 120. For example, the segmenting information indicates how many rows to segment the data based on a decode threshold of an error encoding scheme, indicates how many columns to segment the data into based on a number and size of data blocks within the data partition 120, and indicates how many columns to include in a data segment 152. The segment processing module 142 segments the data 120 into data segments 152 in accordance with the segmenting information.

The segment security processing module 144, when enabled by the control module 116, secures the data segments 152 based on segment security information received as control information 160 from the control module 116. The segment security information includes data compression, encryption, watermarking, integrity check (e.g., cyclic redundancy check (CRC), etc.), and/or any other type of digital security. For example, when the segment security processing module 144 is enabled, it may compress a data segment 152, encrypt the compressed data segment, and generate a CRC value for the encrypted data segment to produce a secure data segment 154. When the segment security processing module 144 is not enabled, it passes the data segments 152 to the error encoding module 146 or is bypassed such that the data segments 152 are provided to the error encoding module 146.

The error encoding module 146 encodes the secure data segments 154 in accordance with error correction encoding parameters received as control information 160 from the control module 116. The error correction encoding parameters (e.g., also referred to as dispersed storage error coding parameters) include identifying an error correction encoding scheme (e.g., forward error correction algorithm, a Reed-Solomon based algorithm, an online coding algorithm, an information dispersal algorithm, etc.), a pillar width, a decode threshold, a read threshold, a write threshold, etc. For example, the error correction encoding parameters identify a specific error correction encoding scheme, specifies a pillar width of five, and specifies a decode threshold of three. From these parameters, the error encoding module 146 encodes a data segment 154 to produce an encoded data segment 156.

The slicing module 148 slices the encoded data segment 156 in accordance with the pillar width of the error correction encoding parameters received as control information 160. For example, if the pillar width is five, the slicing module 148 slices an encoded data segment 156 into a set of five encoded data slices. As such, for a plurality of encoded data segments 156 for a given data partition, the slicing module outputs a plurality of sets of encoded data slices 158.

The per slice security processing module 150, when enabled by the control module 116, secures each encoded data slice 158 based on slice security information received as control information 160 from the control module 116. The slice security information includes data compression, encryption, watermarking, integrity check (e.g., CRC, etc.), and/or any other type of digital security. For example, when the per slice security processing module 150 is enabled, it compresses an encoded data slice 158, encrypts the compressed encoded data slice, and generates a CRC value for the encrypted encoded data slice to produce a secure encoded data slice 122. When the per slice security processing module 150 is not enabled, it passes the encoded data slices 158 or is bypassed such that the encoded data slices 158 are the output of the DS error encoding module 112. Note that the control module 116 may be omitted and each module stores its own parameters.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of an example of a segment processing of a dispersed storage (DS) error encoding module. In this example, a segment processing module 142 receives a data partition 120 that includes 45 data blocks (e.g., d1-d45), receives segmenting information (i.e., control information 160) from a control module, and segments the data partition 120 in accordance with the control information 160 to produce data segments 152. Each data block may be of the same size as other data blocks or of a different size. In addition, the size of each data block may be a few bytes to megabytes of data. As previously mentioned, the segmenting information indicates how many rows to segment the data partition into, indicates how many columns to segment the data partition into, and indicates how many columns to include in a data segment.

In this example, the decode threshold of the error encoding scheme is three; as such the number of rows to divide the data partition into is three. The number of columns for each row is set to 15, which is based on the number and size of data blocks. The data blocks of the data partition are arranged in rows and columns in a sequential order (i.e., the first row includes the first 15 data blocks; the second row includes the second 15 data blocks; and the third row includes the last 15 data blocks).

With the data blocks arranged into the desired sequential order, they are divided into data segments based on the segmenting information. In this example, the data partition is divided into 8 data segments; the first 7 include 2 columns of three rows and the last includes 1 column of three rows. Note that the first row of the 8 data segments is in sequential order of the first 15 data blocks; the second row of the 8 data segments in sequential order of the second 15 data blocks; and the third row of the 8 data segments in sequential order of the last 15 data blocks. Note that the number of data blocks, the grouping of the data blocks into segments, and size of the data blocks may vary to accommodate the desired distributed task processing function.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of an example of error encoding and slicing processing of the dispersed error encoding processing the data segments of FIG. 7. In this example, data segment 1 includes 3 rows with each row being treated as one word for encoding. As such, data segment 1 includes three words for encoding: word 1 including data blocks d1 and d2, word 2 including data blocks d16 and d17, and word 3 including data blocks d31 and d32. Each of data segments 2-7 includes three words where each word includes two data blocks. Data segment 8 includes three words where each word includes a single data block (e.g., d15, d30, and d45).

In operation, an error encoding module 146 and a slicing module 148 convert each data segment into a set of encoded data slices in accordance with error correction encoding parameters as control information 160. More specifically, when the error correction encoding parameters indicate a unity matrix Reed-Solomon based encoding algorithm, 5 pillars, and decode threshold of 3, the first three encoded data slices of the set of encoded data slices for a data segment are substantially similar to the corresponding word of the data segment. For instance, when the unity matrix Reed-Solomon based encoding algorithm is applied to data segment 1, the content of the first encoded data slice (DS1_d1&2) of the first set of encoded data slices (e.g., corresponding to data segment 1) is substantially similar to content of the first word (e.g., d1 & d2); the content of the second encoded data slice (DS1_d16&17) of the first set of encoded data slices is substantially similar to content of the second word (e.g., d16 & d17); and the content of the third encoded data slice (DS1_d31&32) of the first set of encoded data slices is substantially similar to content of the third word (e.g., d31 & d32).

The content of the fourth and fifth encoded data slices (e.g., ES1_1 and ES1_2) of the first set of encoded data slices include error correction data based on the first—third words of the first data segment. With such an encoding and slicing scheme, retrieving any three of the five encoded data slices allows the data segment to be accurately reconstructed.

The encoding and slices of data segments 2-7 yield sets of encoded data slices similar to the set of encoded data slices of data segment 1. For instance, the content of the first encoded data slice (DS2_d3&4) of the second set of encoded data slices (e.g., corresponding to data segment 2) is substantially similar to content of the first word (e.g., d3 & d4); the content of the second encoded data slice (DS2_d18&19) of the second set of encoded data slices is substantially similar to content of the second word (e.g., d18 & d19); and the content of the third encoded data slice (DS2_d33&34) of the second set of encoded data slices is substantially similar to content of the third word (e.g., d33 & d34). The content of the fourth and fifth encoded data slices (e.g., ES1_1 and ES1_2) of the second set of encoded data slices includes error correction data based on the first—third words of the second data segment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of an example of grouping selection processing of an outbound distributed storage and task (DST) processing in accordance with grouping selector information as control information 160 from a control module. Encoded slices for data partition 122 are grouped in accordance with the control information 160 to produce slice groupings 96. In this example, a grouping selection module 114 organizes the encoded data slices into five slice groupings (e.g., one for each DST execution unit of a distributed storage and task network (DSTN) module). As a specific example, the grouping selection module 114 creates a first slice grouping for a DST execution unit #1, which includes first encoded slices of each of the sets of encoded slices. As such, the first DST execution unit receives encoded data slices corresponding to data blocks 1-15 (e.g., encoded data slices of contiguous data).

The grouping selection module 114 also creates a second slice grouping for a DST execution unit #2, which includes second encoded slices of each of the sets of encoded slices. As such, the second DST execution unit receives encoded data slices corresponding to data blocks 16-30. The grouping selection module 114 further creates a third slice grouping for DST execution unit #3, which includes third encoded slices of each of the sets of encoded slices. As such, the third DST execution unit receives encoded data slices corresponding to data blocks 31-45.

The grouping selection module 114 creates a fourth slice grouping for DST execution unit #4, which includes fourth encoded slices of each of the sets of encoded slices. As such, the fourth DST execution unit receives encoded data slices corresponding to first error encoding information (e.g., encoded data slices of error coding (EC) data). The grouping selection module 114 further creates a fifth slice grouping for DST execution unit #5, which includes fifth encoded slices of each of the sets of encoded slices. As such, the fifth DST execution unit receives encoded data slices corresponding to second error encoding information.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of an example of converting data 92 into slice groups that expands on the preceding figures. As shown, the data 92 is partitioned in accordance with a partitioning function 164 into a plurality of data partitions (1-x, where x is an integer greater than 4). Each data partition (or chunkset of data) is encoded and grouped into slice groupings as previously discussed by an encoding and grouping function 166. For a given data partition, the slice groupings are sent to distributed storage and task (DST) execution units. From data partition to data partition, the ordering of the slice groupings to the DST execution units may vary.

For example, the slice groupings of data partition #1 is sent to the DST execution units such that the first DST execution receives first encoded data slices of each of the sets of encoded data slices, which corresponds to a first continuous data chunk of the first data partition (e.g., refer to FIG. 9), a second DST execution receives second encoded data slices of each of the sets of encoded data slices, which corresponds to a second continuous data chunk of the first data partition, etc.

For the second data partition, the slice groupings may be sent to the DST execution units in a different order than it was done for the first data partition. For instance, the first slice grouping of the second data partition (e.g., slice group 2_1) is sent to the second DST execution unit; the second slice grouping of the second data partition (e.g., slice group 2_2) is sent to the third DST execution unit; the third slice grouping of the second data partition (e.g., slice group 2_3) is sent to the fourth DST execution unit; the fourth slice grouping of the second data partition (e.g., slice group 2_4, which includes first error coding information) is sent to the fifth DST execution unit; and the fifth slice grouping of the second data partition (e.g., slice group 2_5, which includes second error coding information) is sent to the first DST execution unit.

The pattern of sending the slice groupings to the set of DST execution units may vary in a predicted pattern, a random pattern, and/or a combination thereof from data partition to data partition. In addition, from data partition to data partition, the set of DST execution units may change. For example, for the first data partition, DST execution units 1-5 may be used; for the second data partition, DST execution units 6-10 may be used; for the third data partition, DST execution units 3-7 may be used; etc. As is also shown, the task is divided into partial tasks that are sent to the DST execution units in conjunction with the slice groupings of the data partitions.

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a DST (distributed storage and/or task) execution unit that includes an interface 169, a controller 86, memory 88, one or more DT (distributed task) execution modules 90, and a DST client module 34. The memory 88 is of sufficient size to store a significant number of encoded data slices (e.g., thousands of slices to hundreds-of-millions of slices) and may include one or more hard drives and/or one or more solid-state memory devices (e.g., flash memory, DRAM, etc.).

In an example of storing a slice group, the DST execution module receives a slice grouping 96 (e.g., slice group #1) via interface 169. The slice grouping 96 includes, per partition, encoded data slices of contiguous data or encoded data slices of error coding (EC) data. For slice group #1, the DST execution module receives encoded data slices of contiguous data for partitions #1 and #x (and potentially others between 3 and x) and receives encoded data slices of EC data for partitions #2 and #3 (and potentially others between 3 and x). Examples of encoded data slices of contiguous data and encoded data slices of error coding (EC) data are discussed with reference to FIG. 9. The memory 88 stores the encoded data slices of slice groupings 96 in accordance with memory control information 174 it receives from the controller 86.

The controller 86 (e.g., a processing module, a CPU, etc.) generates the memory control information 174 based on a partial task(s) 98 and distributed computing information (e.g., user information (e.g., user ID, distributed computing permissions, data access permission, etc.), vault information (e.g., virtual memory assigned to user, user group, temporary storage for task processing, etc.), task validation information, etc.). For example, the controller 86 interprets the partial task(s) 98 in light of the distributed computing information to determine whether a requestor is authorized to perform the task 98, is authorized to access the data, and/or is authorized to perform the task on this particular data. When the requestor is authorized, the controller 86 determines, based on the task 98 and/or another input, whether the encoded data slices of the slice grouping 96 are to be temporarily stored or permanently stored. Based on the foregoing, the controller 86 generates the memory control information 174 to write the encoded data slices of the slice grouping 96 into the memory 88 and to indicate whether the slice grouping 96 is permanently stored or temporarily stored.

With the slice grouping 96 stored in the memory 88, the controller 86 facilitates execution of the partial task(s) 98. In an example, the controller 86 interprets the partial task 98 in light of the capabilities of the DT execution module(s) 90. The capabilities include one or more of MIPS capabilities, processing resources (e.g., quantity and capability of microprocessors, CPUs, digital signal processors, co-processor, microcontrollers, arithmetic logic circuitry, and/or any other analog and/or digital processing circuitry), availability of the processing resources, etc. If the controller 86 determines that the DT execution module(s) 90 have sufficient capabilities, it generates task control information 176.

The task control information 176 may be a generic instruction (e.g., perform the task on the stored slice grouping) or a series of operational codes. In the former instance, the DT execution module 90 includes a co-processor function specifically configured (fixed or programmed) to perform the desired task 98. In the latter instance, the DT execution module 90 includes a general processor topology where the controller stores an algorithm corresponding to the particular task 98. In this instance, the controller 86 provides the operational codes (e.g., assembly language, source code of a programming language, object code, etc.) of the algorithm to the DT execution module 90 for execution.

Depending on the nature of the task 98, the DT execution module 90 may generate intermediate partial results 102 that are stored in the memory 88 or in a cache memory (not shown) within the DT execution module 90. In either case, when the DT execution module 90 completes execution of the partial task 98, it outputs one or more partial results 102. The partial results 102 may also be stored in memory 88.

If, when the controller 86 is interpreting whether capabilities of the DT execution module(s) 90 can support the partial task 98, the controller 86 determines that the DT execution module(s) 90 cannot adequately support the task 98 (e.g., does not have the right resources, does not have sufficient available resources, available resources would be too slow, etc.), it then determines whether the partial task 98 should be fully offloaded or partially offloaded.

If the controller 86 determines that the partial task 98 should be fully offloaded, it generates DST control information 178 and provides it to the DST client module 34. The DST control information 178 includes the partial task 98, memory storage information regarding the slice grouping 96, and distribution instructions. The distribution instructions instruct the DST client module 34 to divide the partial task 98 into sub-partial tasks 172, to divide the slice grouping 96 into sub-slice groupings 170, and identify other DST execution units. The DST client module 34 functions in a similar manner as the DST client module 34 of FIGS. 3-10 to produce the sub-partial tasks 172 and the sub-slice groupings 170 in accordance with the distribution instructions.

The DST client module 34 receives DST feedback 168 (e.g., sub-partial results), via the interface 169, from the DST execution units to which the task was offloaded. The DST client module 34 provides the sub-partial results to the DST execution unit, which processes the sub-partial results to produce the partial result(s) 102.

If the controller 86 determines that the partial task 98 should be partially offloaded, it determines what portion of the task 98 and/or slice grouping 96 should be processed locally and what should be offloaded. For the portion that is being locally processed, the controller 86 generates task control information 176 as previously discussed. For the portion that is being offloaded, the controller 86 generates DST control information 178 as previously discussed.

When the DST client module 34 receives DST feedback 168 (e.g., sub-partial results) from the DST executions units to which a portion of the task was offloaded, it provides the sub-partial results to the DT execution module 90. The DT execution module 90 processes the sub-partial results with the sub-partial results it created to produce the partial result(s) 102.

The memory 88 may be further utilized to retrieve one or more of stored slices 100, stored results 104, partial results 102 when the DT execution module 90 stores partial results 102 and/or results 104 in the memory 88. For example, when the partial task 98 includes a retrieval request, the controller 86 outputs the memory control 174 to the memory 88 to facilitate retrieval of slices 100 and/or results 104.

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of an example of operation of a distributed storage and task (DST) execution unit storing encoded data slices and executing a task thereon. To store the encoded data slices of a partition 1 of slice grouping 1, a controller 86 generates write commands as memory control information 174 such that the encoded slices are stored in desired locations (e.g., permanent or temporary) within memory 88.

Once the encoded slices are stored, the controller 86 provides task control information 176 to a distributed task (DT) execution module 90. As a first step of executing the task in accordance with the task control information 176, the DT execution module 90 retrieves the encoded slices from memory 88. The DT execution module 90 then reconstructs contiguous data blocks of a data partition. As shown for this example, reconstructed contiguous data blocks of data partition 1 include data blocks 1-15 (e.g., d1-d15).

With the contiguous data blocks reconstructed, the DT execution module 90 performs the task on the reconstructed contiguous data blocks. For example, the task may be to search the reconstructed contiguous data blocks for a particular word or phrase, identify where in the reconstructed contiguous data blocks the particular word or phrase occurred, and/or count the occurrences of the particular word or phrase on the reconstructed contiguous data blocks. The DST execution unit continues in a similar manner for the encoded data slices of other partitions in slice grouping 1. Note that with using the unity matrix error encoding scheme previously discussed, if the encoded data slices of contiguous data are uncorrupted, the decoding of them is a relatively straightforward process of extracting the data.

If, however, an encoded data slice of contiguous data is corrupted (or missing), it can be rebuilt by accessing other DST execution units that are storing the other encoded data slices of the set of encoded data slices of the corrupted encoded data slice. In this instance, the DST execution unit having the corrupted encoded data slices retrieves at least three encoded data slices (of contiguous data and of error coding data) in the set from the other DST execution units (recall for this example, the pillar width is 5 and the decode threshold is 3). The DST execution unit decodes the retrieved data slices using the DS error encoding parameters to recapture the corresponding data segment. The DST execution unit then re-encodes the data segment using the DS error encoding parameters to rebuild the corrupted encoded data slice. Once the encoded data slice is rebuilt, the DST execution unit functions as previously described.

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an inbound distributed storage and/or task (DST) processing section 82 of a DST client module coupled to DST execution units of a distributed storage and task network (DSTN) module via a network 24. The inbound DST processing section 82 includes a de-grouping module 180, a DS (dispersed storage) error decoding module 182, a data de-partitioning module 184, a control module 186, and a distributed task control module 188. Note that the control module 186 and/or the distributed task control module 188 may be separate modules from corresponding ones of outbound DST processing section or may be the same modules.

In an example of operation, the DST execution units have completed execution of corresponding partial tasks on the corresponding slice groupings to produce partial results 102. The inbound DST processing section 82 receives the partial results 102 via the distributed task control module 188. The inbound DST processing section 82 then processes the partial results 102 to produce a final result, or results 104. For example, if the task was to find a specific word or phrase within data, the partial results 102 indicate where in each of the prescribed portions of the data the corresponding DST execution units found the specific word or phrase. The distributed task control module 188 combines the individual partial results 102 for the corresponding portions of the data into a final result 104 for the data as a whole.

In another example of operation, the inbound DST processing section 82 is retrieving stored data from the DST execution units (i.e., the DSTN module). In this example, the DST execution units output encoded data slices 100 corresponding to the data retrieval requests. The de-grouping module 180 receives retrieved slices 100 and de-groups them to produce encoded data slices per data partition 122. The DS error decoding module 182 decodes, in accordance with DS error encoding parameters, the encoded data slices per data partition 122 to produce data partitions 120.

The data de-partitioning module 184 combines the data partitions 120 into the data 92. The control module 186 controls the conversion of retrieved slices 100 into the data 92 using control signals 190 to each of the modules. For instance, the control module 186 provides de-grouping information to the de-grouping module 180, provides the DS error encoding parameters to the DS error decoding module 182, and provides de-partitioning information to the data de-partitioning module 184.

FIG. 14 is a logic diagram of an example of a method that is executable by distributed storage and task (DST) client module regarding inbound DST processing. The method begins at step 194 where the DST client module receives partial results. The method continues at step 196 where the DST client module retrieves the task corresponding to the partial results. For example, the partial results include header information that identifies the requesting entity, which correlates to the requested task.

The method continues at step 198 where the DST client module determines result processing information based on the task. For example, if the task were to identify a particular word or phrase within the data, the result processing information would indicate to aggregate the partial results for the corresponding portions of the data to produce the final result. As another example, if the task were to count the occurrences of a particular word or phrase within the data, results of processing the information would indicate to add the partial results to produce the final results. The method continues at step 200 where the DST client module processes the partial results in accordance with the result processing information to produce the final result or results.

FIG. 15 is a diagram of an example of de-grouping selection processing of an inbound distributed storage and task (DST) processing section of a DST client module. In general, this is an inverse process of the grouping module of the outbound DST processing section of FIG. 9. Accordingly, for each data partition (e.g., partition #1), the de-grouping module retrieves the corresponding slice grouping from the DST execution units (EU) (e.g., DST 1-5).

As shown, DST execution unit #1 provides a first slice grouping, which includes the first encoded slices of each of the sets of encoded slices (e.g., encoded data slices of contiguous data of data blocks 1-15); DST execution unit #2 provides a second slice grouping, which includes the second encoded slices of each of the sets of encoded slices (e.g., encoded data slices of contiguous data of data blocks 16-30); DST execution unit #3 provides a third slice grouping, which includes the third encoded slices of each of the sets of encoded slices (e.g., encoded data slices of contiguous data of data blocks 31-45); DST execution unit #4 provides a fourth slice grouping, which includes the fourth encoded slices of each of the sets of encoded slices (e.g., first encoded data slices of error coding (EC) data); and DST execution unit #5 provides a fifth slice grouping, which includes the fifth encoded slices of each of the sets of encoded slices (e.g., first encoded data slices of error coding (EC) data).

The de-grouping module de-groups the slice groupings (e.g., received slices 100) using a de-grouping selector 180 controlled by a control signal 190 as shown in the example to produce a plurality of sets of encoded data slices (e.g., retrieved slices for a partition into sets of slices 122). Each set corresponding to a data segment of the data partition.

FIG. 16 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a dispersed storage (DS) error decoding module 182 of an inbound distributed storage and task (DST) processing section. The DS error decoding module 182 includes an inverse per slice security processing module 202, a de-slicing module 204, an error decoding module 206, an inverse segment security module 208, a de-segmenting processing module 210, and a control module 186.

In an example of operation, the inverse per slice security processing module 202, when enabled by the control module 186, unsecures each encoded data slice 122 based on slice de-security information received as control information 190 (e.g., the compliment of the slice security information discussed with reference to FIG. 6) received from the control module 186. The slice security information includes data decompression, decryption, de-watermarking, integrity check (e.g., CRC verification, etc.), and/or any other type of digital security. For example, when the inverse per slice security processing module 202 is enabled, it verifies integrity information (e.g., a CRC value) of each encoded data slice 122, it decrypts each verified encoded data slice, and decompresses each decrypted encoded data slice to produce slice encoded data 158. When the inverse per slice security processing module 202 is not enabled, it passes the encoded data slices 122 as the sliced encoded data 158 or is bypassed such that the retrieved encoded data slices 122 are provided as the sliced encoded data 158.

The de-slicing module 204 de-slices the sliced encoded data 158 into encoded data segments 156 in accordance with a pillar width of the error correction encoding parameters received as control information 190 from the control module 186. For example, if the pillar width is five, the de-slicing module 204 de-slices a set of five encoded data slices into an encoded data segment 156. The error decoding module 206 decodes the encoded data segments 156 in accordance with error correction decoding parameters received as control information 190 from the control module 186 to produce secure data segments 154. The error correction decoding parameters include identifying an error correction encoding scheme (e.g., forward error correction algorithm, a Reed-Solomon based algorithm, an information dispersal algorithm, etc.), a pillar width, a decode threshold, a read threshold, a write threshold, etc. For example, the error correction decoding parameters identify a specific error correction encoding scheme, specify a pillar width of five, and specify a decode threshold of three.

The inverse segment security processing module 208, when enabled by the control module 186, unsecures the secured data segments 154 based on segment security information received as control information 190 from the control module 186. The segment security information includes data decompression, decryption, de-watermarking, integrity check (e.g., CRC, etc.) verification, and/or any other type of digital security. For example, when the inverse segment security processing module 208 is enabled, it verifies integrity information (e.g., a CRC value) of each secure data segment 154, it decrypts each verified secured data segment, and decompresses each decrypted secure data segment to produce a data segment 152. When the inverse segment security processing module 208 is not enabled, it passes the decoded data segment 154 as the data segment 152 or is bypassed.

The de-segment processing module 210 receives the data segments 152 and receives de-segmenting information as control information 190 from the control module 186. The de-segmenting information indicates how the de-segment processing module 210 is to de-segment the data segments 152 into a data partition 120. For example, the de-segmenting information indicates how the rows and columns of data segments are to be rearranged to yield the data partition 120.

FIG. 17 is a diagram of an example of de-slicing and error decoding processing of a dispersed error decoding module. A de-slicing module 204 receives at least a decode threshold number of encoded data slices 158 for each data segment in accordance with control information 190 and provides encoded data 156. In this example, a decode threshold is three. As such, each set of encoded data slices 158 is shown to have three encoded data slices per data segment. The de-slicing module 204 may receive three encoded data slices per data segment because an associated distributed storage and task (DST) client module requested retrieving only three encoded data slices per segment or selected three of the retrieved encoded data slices per data segment. As shown, which is based on the unity matrix encoding previously discussed with reference to FIG. 8, an encoded data slice may be a data-based encoded data slice (e.g., DS1_d1&d2) or an error code based encoded data slice (e.g., ES3_1).

An error decoding module 206 decodes the encoded data 156 of each data segment in accordance with the error correction decoding parameters of control information 190 to produce secured segments 154. In this example, data segment 1 includes 3 rows with each row being treated as one word for encoding. As such, data segment 1 includes three words: word 1 including data blocks d1 and d2, word 2 including data blocks d16 and d17, and word 3 including data blocks d31 and d32. Each of data segments 2-7 includes three words where each word includes two data blocks. Data segment 8 includes three words where each word includes a single data block (e.g., d15, d30, and d45).

FIG. 18 is a diagram of an example of de-segment processing of an inbound distributed storage and task (DST) processing. In this example, a de-segment processing module 210 receives data segments 152 (e.g., 1-8) and rearranges the data blocks of the data segments into rows and columns in accordance with de-segmenting information of control information 190 to produce a data partition 120. Note that the number of rows is based on the decode threshold (e.g., 3 in this specific example) and the number of columns is based on the number and size of the data blocks.

The de-segmenting module 210 converts the rows and columns of data blocks into the data partition 120. Note that each data block may be of the same size as other data blocks or of a different size. In addition, the size of each data block may be a few bytes to megabytes of data.

FIG. 19 is a diagram of an example of converting slice groups into data 92 within an inbound distributed storage and task (DST) processing section. As shown, the data 92 is reconstructed from a plurality of data partitions (1-x, where x is an integer greater than 4). Each data partition (or chunk set of data) is decoded and re-grouped using a de-grouping and decoding function 212 and a de-partition function 214 from slice groupings as previously discussed. For a given data partition, the slice groupings (e.g., at least a decode threshold per data segment of encoded data slices) are received from DST execution units. From data partition to data partition, the ordering of the slice groupings received from the DST execution units may vary as discussed with reference to FIG. 10.

FIG. 20 is a diagram of an example of a distributed storage and/or retrieval within the distributed computing system. The distributed computing system includes a plurality of distributed storage and/or task (DST) processing client modules 34 (one shown) coupled to a distributed storage and/or task processing network (DSTN) module, or multiple DSTN modules, via a network 24. The DST client module 34 includes an outbound DST processing section 80 and an inbound DST processing section 82. The DSTN module includes a plurality of DST execution units. Each DST execution unit includes a controller 86, memory 88, one or more distributed task (DT) execution modules 90, and a DST client module 34.

In an example of data storage, the DST client module 34 has data 92 that it desires to store in the DSTN module. The data 92 may be a file (e.g., video, audio, text, graphics, etc.), a data object, a data block, an update to a file, an update to a data block, etc. In this instance, the outbound DST processing module 80 converts the data 92 into encoded data slices 216 as will be further described with reference to FIGS. 21-23. The outbound DST processing module 80 sends, via the network 24, to the DST execution units for storage as further described with reference to FIG. 24.

In an example of data retrieval, the DST client module 34 issues a retrieve request to the DST execution units for the desired data 92. The retrieve request may address each DST executions units storing encoded data slices of the desired data, address a decode threshold number of DST execution units, address a read threshold number of DST execution units, or address some other number of DST execution units. In response to the request, each addressed DST execution unit retrieves its encoded data slices 100 of the desired data and sends them to the inbound DST processing section 82, via the network 24.

When, for each data segment, the inbound DST processing section 82 receives at least a decode threshold number of encoded data slices 100, it converts the encoded data slices 100 into a data segment. The inbound DST processing section 82 aggregates the data segments to produce the retrieved data 92.

FIG. 21 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an outbound distributed storage and/or task (DST) processing section 80 of a DST client module coupled to a distributed storage and task network (DSTN) module (e.g., a plurality of DST execution units) via a network 24. The outbound DST processing section 80 includes a data partitioning module 110, a dispersed storage (DS) error encoding module 112, a grouping selector module 114, a control module 116, and a distributed task control module 118.

In an example of operation, the data partitioning module 110 is by-passed such that data 92 is provided directly to the DS error encoding module 112. The control module 116 coordinates the by-passing of the data partitioning module 110 by outputting a bypass 220 message to the data partitioning module 110.

The DS error encoding module 112 receives the data 92 in a serial manner, a parallel manner, and/or a combination thereof. The DS error encoding module 112 DS error encodes the data in accordance with control information 160 from the control module 116 to produce encoded data slices 218. The DS error encoding includes segmenting the data 92 into data segments, segment security processing (e.g., encryption, compression, watermarking, integrity check (e.g., CRC, etc.)), error encoding, slicing, and/or per slice security processing (e.g., encryption, compression, watermarking, integrity check (e.g., CRC, etc.)). The control information 160 indicates which steps of the DS error encoding are active for the data 92 and, for active steps, indicates the parameters for the step. For example, the control information 160 indicates that the error encoding is active and includes error encoding parameters (e.g., pillar width, decode threshold, write threshold, read threshold, type of error encoding, etc.).

The grouping selector module 114 groups the encoded slices 218 of the data segments into pillars of slices 216. The number of pillars corresponds to the pillar width of the DS error encoding parameters. In this example, the distributed task control module 118 facilitates the storage request.

FIG. 22 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a dispersed storage (DS) error encoding module 112 for the example of FIG. 21. The DS error encoding module 112 includes a segment processing module 142, a segment security processing module 144, an error encoding module 146, a slicing module 148, and a per slice security processing module 150. Each of these modules is coupled to a control module 116 to receive control information 160 therefrom.

In an example of operation, the segment processing module 142 receives data 92 and receives segmenting information as control information 160 from the control module 116. The segmenting information indicates how the segment processing module is to segment the data. For example, the segmenting information indicates the size of each data segment. The segment processing module 142 segments the data 92 into data segments 152 in accordance with the segmenting information.

The segment security processing module 144, when enabled by the control module 116, secures the data segments 152 based on segment security information received as control information 160 from the control module 116. The segment security information includes data compression, encryption, watermarking, integrity check (e.g., CRC, etc.), and/or any other type of digital security. For example, when the segment security processing module 144 is enabled, it compresses a data segment 152, encrypts the compressed data segment, and generates a CRC value for the encrypted data segment to produce a secure data segment. When the segment security processing module 144 is not enabled, it passes the data segments 152 to the error encoding module 146 or is bypassed such that the data segments 152 are provided to the error encoding module 146.

The error encoding module 146 encodes the secure data segments in accordance with error correction encoding parameters received as control information 160 from the control module 116. The error correction encoding parameters include identifying an error correction encoding scheme (e.g., forward error correction algorithm, a Reed-Solomon based algorithm, an information dispersal algorithm, etc.), a pillar width, a decode threshold, a read threshold, a write threshold, etc. For example, the error correction encoding parameters identify a specific error correction encoding scheme, specifies a pillar width of five, and specifies a decode threshold of three. From these parameters, the error encoding module 146 encodes a data segment to produce an encoded data segment.

The slicing module 148 slices the encoded data segment in accordance with a pillar width of the error correction encoding parameters. For example, if the pillar width is five, the slicing module slices an encoded data segment into a set of five encoded data slices. As such, for a plurality of data segments, the slicing module 148 outputs a plurality of sets of encoded data slices as shown within encoding and slicing function 222 as described.

The per slice security processing module 150, when enabled by the control module 116, secures each encoded data slice based on slice security information received as control information 160 from the control module 116. The slice security information includes data compression, encryption, watermarking, integrity check (e.g., CRC, etc.), and/or any other type of digital security. For example, when the per slice security processing module 150 is enabled, it may compress an encoded data slice, encrypt the compressed encoded data slice, and generate a CRC value for the encrypted encoded data slice to produce a secure encoded data slice tweaking. When the per slice security processing module 150 is not enabled, it passes the encoded data slices or is bypassed such that the encoded data slices 218 are the output of the DS error encoding module 112.

FIG. 23 is a diagram of an example of converting data 92 into pillar slice groups utilizing encoding, slicing and pillar grouping function 224 for storage in memory of a distributed storage and task network (DSTN) module. As previously discussed the data 92 is encoded and sliced into a plurality of sets of encoded data slices; one set per data segment. The grouping selection module organizes the sets of encoded data slices into pillars of data slices. In this example, the DS error encoding parameters include a pillar width of 5 and a decode threshold of 3. As such, for each data segment, 5 encoded data slices are created.

The grouping selection module takes the first encoded data slice of each of the sets and forms a first pillar, which may be sent to the first DST execution unit. Similarly, the grouping selection module creates the second pillar from the second slices of the sets; the third pillar from the third slices of the sets; the fourth pillar from the fourth slices of the sets; and the fifth pillar from the fifth slices of the set.

FIG. 24 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a distributed storage and/or task (DST) execution unit that includes an interface 169, a controller 86, memory 88, one or more distributed task (DT) execution modules 90, and a DST client module 34. A computing core 26 may be utilized to implement the one or more DT execution modules 90 and the DST client module 34. The memory 88 is of sufficient size to store a significant number of encoded data slices (e.g., thousands of slices to hundreds-of-millions of slices) and may include one or more hard drives and/or one or more solid-state memory devices (e.g., flash memory, DRAM, etc.).

In an example of storing a pillar of slices 216, the DST execution unit receives, via interface 169, a pillar of slices 216 (e.g., pillar #1 slices). The memory 88 stores the encoded data slices 216 of the pillar of slices in accordance with memory control information 174 it receives from the controller 86. The controller 86 (e.g., a processing module, a CPU, etc.) generates the memory control information 174 based on distributed storage information (e.g., user information (e.g., user ID, distributed storage permissions, data access permission, etc.), vault information (e.g., virtual memory assigned to user, user group, etc.), etc.). Similarly, when retrieving slices, the DST execution unit receives, via interface 169, a slice retrieval request. The memory 88 retrieves the slice in accordance with memory control information 174 it receives from the controller 86. The memory 88 outputs the slice 100, via the interface 169, to a requesting entity.

FIG. 25 is a schematic block diagram of an example of operation of an inbound distributed storage and/or task (DST) processing section 82 for retrieving dispersed error encoded data 92. The inbound DST processing section 82 includes a de-grouping module 180, a dispersed storage (DS) error decoding module 182, a data de-partitioning module 184, a control module 186, and a distributed task control module 188. Note that the control module 186 and/or the distributed task control module 188 may be separate modules from corresponding ones of an outbound DST processing section or may be the same modules.

In an example of operation, the inbound DST processing section 82 is retrieving stored data 92 from the DST execution units (i.e., the DSTN module). In this example, the DST execution units output encoded data slices corresponding to data retrieval requests from the distributed task control module 188. The de-grouping module 180 receives pillars of slices 100 and de-groups them in accordance with control information 190 from the control module 186 to produce sets of encoded data slices 218. The DS error decoding module 182 decodes, in accordance with the DS error encoding parameters received as control information 190 from the control module 186, each set of encoded data slices 218 to produce data segments, which are aggregated into retrieved data 92. The data de-partitioning module 184 is by-passed in this operational mode via a bypass signal 226 of control information 190 from the control module 186.

FIG. 26 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a dispersed storage (DS) error decoding module 182 of an inbound distributed storage and task (DST) processing section. The DS error decoding module 182 includes an inverse per slice security processing module 202, a de-slicing module 204, an error decoding module 206, an inverse segment security module 208, and a de-segmenting processing module 210. The dispersed error decoding module 182 is operable to de-slice and decode encoded slices per data segment 218 utilizing a de-slicing and decoding function 228 to produce a plurality of data segments that are de-segmented utilizing a de-segment function 230 to recover data 92.

In an example of operation, the inverse per slice security processing module 202, when enabled by the control module 186 via control information 190, unsecures each encoded data slice 218 based on slice de-security information (e.g., the compliment of the slice security information discussed with reference to FIG. 6) received as control information 190 from the control module 186. The slice de-security information includes data decompression, decryption, de-watermarking, integrity check (e.g., CRC verification, etc.), and/or any other type of digital security. For example, when the inverse per slice security processing module 202 is enabled, it verifies integrity information (e.g., a CRC value) of each encoded data slice 218, it decrypts each verified encoded data slice, and decompresses each decrypted encoded data slice to produce slice encoded data. When the inverse per slice security processing module 202 is not enabled, it passes the encoded data slices 218 as the sliced encoded data or is bypassed such that the retrieved encoded data slices 218 are provided as the sliced encoded data.

The de-slicing module 204 de-slices the sliced encoded data into encoded data segments in accordance with a pillar width of the error correction encoding parameters received as control information 190 from a control module 186. For example, if the pillar width is five, the de-slicing module de-slices a set of five encoded data slices into an encoded data segment. Alternatively, the encoded data segment may include just three encoded data slices (e.g., when the decode threshold is 3).

The error decoding module 206 decodes the encoded data segments in accordance with error correction decoding parameters received as control information 190 from the control module 186 to produce secure data segments. The error correction decoding parameters include identifying an error correction encoding scheme (e.g., forward error correction algorithm, a Reed-Solomon based algorithm, an information dispersal algorithm, etc.), a pillar width, a decode threshold, a read threshold, a write threshold, etc. For example, the error correction decoding parameters identify a specific error correction encoding scheme, specify a pillar width of five, and specify a decode threshold of three.

The inverse segment security processing module 208, when enabled by the control module 186, unsecures the secured data segments based on segment security information received as control information 190 from the control module 186. The segment security information includes data decompression, decryption, de-watermarking, integrity check (e.g., CRC, etc.) verification, and/or any other type of digital security. For example, when the inverse segment security processing module is enabled, it verifies integrity information (e.g., a CRC value) of each secure data segment, it decrypts each verified secured data segment, and decompresses each decrypted secure data segment to produce a data segment 152. When the inverse segment security processing module 208 is not enabled, it passes the decoded data segment 152 as the data segment or is bypassed. The de-segmenting processing module 210 aggregates the data segments 152 into the data 92 in accordance with control information 190 from the control module 186.

FIG. 27 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a distributed storage and task processing network (DSTN) module that includes a plurality of distributed storage and task (DST) execution units (#1 through #n, where, for example, n is an integer greater than or equal to three). Each of the DST execution units includes a DST client module 34, a controller 86, one or more DT (distributed task) execution modules 90, and memory 88.

In this example, the DSTN module stores, in the memory of the DST execution units, a plurality of DS (dispersed storage) encoded data (e.g., 1 through n, where n is an integer greater than or equal to two) and stores a plurality of DS encoded task codes (e.g., 1 through k, where k is an integer greater than or equal to two). The DS encoded data may be encoded in accordance with one or more examples described with reference to FIGS. 3-19 (e.g., organized in slice groupings) or encoded in accordance with one or more examples described with reference to FIGS. 20-26 (e.g., organized in pillar groups). The data that is encoded into the DS encoded data may be of any size and/or of any content. For example, the data may be one or more digital books, a copy of a company's emails, a large-scale Internet search, a video security file, one or more entertainment video files (e.g., television programs, movies, etc.), data files, and/or any other large amount of data (e.g., greater than a few Terabytes).

The tasks that are encoded into the DS encoded task code may be a simple function (e.g., a mathematical function, a logic function, an identify function, a find function, a search engine function, a replace function, etc.), a complex function (e.g., compression, human and/or computer language translation, text-to-voice conversion, voice-to-text conversion, etc.), multiple simple and/or complex functions, one or more algorithms, one or more applications, etc. The tasks may be encoded into the DS encoded task code in accordance with one or more examples described with reference to FIGS. 3-19 (e.g., organized in slice groupings) or encoded in accordance with one or more examples described with reference to FIGS. 20-26 (e.g., organized in pillar groups).

In an example of operation, a DST client module of a user device or of a DST processing unit issues a DST request to the DSTN module. The DST request may include a request to retrieve stored data, or a portion thereof, may include a request to store data that is included with the DST request, may include a request to perform one or more tasks on stored data, may include a request to perform one or more tasks on data included with the DST request, etc. In the cases where the DST request includes a request to store data or to retrieve data, the client module and/or the DSTN module processes the request as previously discussed with reference to one or more of FIGS. 3-19 (e.g., slice groupings) and/or 20-26 (e.g., pillar groupings). In the case where the DST request includes a request to perform one or more tasks on data included with the DST request, the DST client module and/or the DSTN module process the DST request as previously discussed with reference to one or more of FIGS. 3-19.

In the case where the DST request includes a request to perform one or more tasks on stored data, the DST client module and/or the DSTN module processes the DST request as will be described with reference to one or more of FIGS. 28-39. In general, the DST client module identifies data and one or more tasks for the DSTN module to execute upon the identified data. The DST request may be for a one-time execution of the task or for an on-going execution of the task. As an example of the latter, as a company generates daily emails, the DST request may be to daily search new emails for inappropriate content and, if found, record the content, the email sender(s), the email recipient(s), email routing information, notify human resources of the identified email, etc.

FIG. 28 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a distributed computing system performing tasks on stored data. In this example, two distributed storage and task (DST) client modules 1-2 are shown: the first may be associated with a user device and the second may be associated with a DST processing unit or a high priority user device (e.g., high priority clearance user, system administrator, etc.). Each DST client module includes a list of stored data 234 and a list of tasks codes 236. The list of stored data 234 includes one or more entries of data identifying information, where each entry identifies data stored in the DSTN module 22. The data identifying information (e.g., data ID) includes one or more of a data file name, a data file directory listing, DSTN addressing information of the data, a data object identifier, etc. The list of tasks 236 includes one or more entries of task code identifying information, when each entry identifies task codes stored in the DSTN module 22. The task code identifying information (e.g., task ID) includes one or more of a task file name, a task file directory listing, DSTN addressing information of the task, another type of identifier to identify the task, etc.

As shown, the list of data 234 and the list of tasks 236 are each smaller in number of entries for the first DST client module than the corresponding lists of the second DST client module. This may occur because the user device associated with the first DST client module has fewer privileges in the distributed computing system than the device associated with the second DST client module. Alternatively, this may occur because the user device associated with the first DST client module serves fewer users than the device associated with the second DST client module and is restricted by the distributed computing system accordingly. As yet another alternative, this may occur through no restraints by the distributed computing system, it just occurred because the operator of the user device associated with the first DST client module has selected fewer data and/or fewer tasks than the operator of the device associated with the second DST client module.

In an example of operation, the first DST client module selects one or more data entries 238 and one or more tasks 240 from its respective lists (e.g., selected data ID and selected task ID). The first DST client module sends its selections to a task distribution module 232. The task distribution module 232 may be within a stand-alone device of the distributed computing system, may be within the user device that contains the first DST client module, or may be within the DSTN module 22.

Regardless of the task distribution module's location, it generates DST allocation information 242 from the selected task ID 240 and the selected data ID 238. The DST allocation information 242 includes data partitioning information, task execution information, and/or intermediate result information. The task distribution module 232 sends the DST allocation information 242 to the DSTN module 22. Note that one or more examples of the DST allocation information will be discussed with reference to one or more of FIGS. 29-39.

The DSTN module 22 interprets the DST allocation information 242 to identify the stored DS encoded data (e.g., DS error encoded data 2) and to identify the stored DS error encoded task code (e.g., DS error encoded task code 1). In addition, the DSTN module 22 interprets the DST allocation information 242 to determine how the data is to be partitioned and how the task is to be partitioned. The DSTN module 22 also determines whether the selected DS error encoded data 238 needs to be converted from pillar grouping to slice grouping. If so, the DSTN module 22 converts the selected DS error encoded data into slice groupings and stores the slice grouping DS error encoded data by overwriting the pillar grouping DS error encoded data or by storing it in a different location in the memory of the DSTN module 22 (i.e., does not overwrite the pillar grouping DS encoded data).

The DSTN module 22 partitions the data and the task as indicated in the DST allocation information 242 and sends the portions to selected DST execution units of the DSTN module 22. Each of the selected DST execution units performs its partial task(s) on its slice groupings to produce partial results. The DSTN module 22 collects the partial results from the selected DST execution units and provides them, as result information 244, to the task distribution module. The result information 244 may be the collected partial results, one or more final results as produced by the DSTN module 22 from processing the partial results in accordance with the DST allocation information 242, or one or more intermediate results as produced by the DSTN module 22 from processing the partial results in accordance with the DST allocation information 242.

The task distribution module 232 receives the result information 244 and provides one or more final results 104 therefrom to the first DST client module. The final result(s) 104 may be result information 244 or a result(s) of the task distribution module's processing of the result information 244.

In concurrence with processing the selected task of the first DST client module, the distributed computing system may process the selected task(s) of the second DST client module on the selected data(s) of the second DST client module. Alternatively, the distributed computing system may process the second DST client module's request subsequent to, or preceding, that of the first DST client module. Regardless of the ordering and/or parallel processing of the DST client module requests, the second DST client module provides its selected data 238 and selected task 240 to a task distribution module 232. If the task distribution module 232 is a separate device of the distributed computing system or within the DSTN module, the task distribution modules 232 coupled to the first and second DST client modules may be the same module. The task distribution module 232 processes the request of the second DST client module in a similar manner as it processed the request of the first DST client module.

FIG. 29 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a task distribution module 232 facilitating the example of FIG. 28. The task distribution module 232 includes a plurality of tables it uses to generate distributed storage and task (DST) allocation information 242 for selected data and selected tasks received from a DST client module. The tables include data storage information 248, task storage information 250, distributed task (DT) execution module information 252, and task

sub-task mapping information 246.

The data storage information table 248 includes a data identification (ID) field 260, a data size field 262, an addressing information field 264, distributed storage (DS) information 266, and may further include other information regarding the data, how it is stored, and/or how it can be processed. For example, DS encoded data #1 has a data ID of 1, a data size of AA (e.g., a byte size of a few Terabytes or more), addressing information of Addr_1_AA, and DS parameters of 3/5; SEG_1; and SLC_1. In this example, the addressing information may be a virtual address corresponding to the virtual address of the first storage word (e.g., one or more bytes) of the data and information on how to calculate the other addresses, may be a range of virtual addresses for the storage words of the data, physical addresses of the first storage word or the storage words of the data, may be a list of slice names of the encoded data slices of the data, etc. The DS parameters may include identity of an error encoding scheme, decode threshold/pillar width (e.g., 3/5 for the first data entry), segment security information (e.g., SEG_1), per slice security information (e.g., SLC_1), and/or any other information regarding how the data was encoded into data slices.

The task storage information table 250 includes a task identification (ID) field 268, a task size field 270, an addressing information field 272, distributed storage (DS) information 274, and may further include other information regarding the task, how it is stored, and/or how it can be used to process data. For example, DS encoded task #2 has a task ID of 2, a task size of XY, addressing information of Addr_2_XY, and DS parameters of 3/5; SEG_2; and SLC_2. In this example, the addressing information may be a virtual address corresponding to the virtual address of the first storage word (e.g., one or more bytes) of the task and information on how to calculate the other addresses, may be a range of virtual addresses for the storage words of the task, physical addresses of the first storage word or the storage words of the task, may be a list of slices names of the encoded slices of the task code, etc. The DS parameters may include identity of an error encoding scheme, decode threshold/pillar width (e.g., 3/5 for the first data entry), segment security information (e.g., SEG_2), per slice security information (e.g., SLC_2), and/or any other information regarding how the task was encoded into encoded task slices. Note that the segment and/or the per-slice security information include a type of encryption (if enabled), a type of compression (if enabled), watermarking information (if enabled), and/or an integrity check scheme (if enabled).

The task

sub-task mapping information table 246 includes a task field 256 and a sub-task field 258. The task field 256 identifies a task stored in the memory of a distributed storage and task network (DSTN) module and the corresponding sub-task fields 258 indicates whether the task includes sub-tasks and, if so, how many and if any of the sub-tasks are ordered. In this example, the task

sub-task mapping information table 246 includes an entry for each task stored in memory of the DSTN module (e.g., task 1 through task k). In particular, this example indicates that task 1 includes 7 sub-tasks; task 2 does not include sub-tasks, and task k includes r number of sub-tasks (where r is an integer greater than or equal to two).

The DT execution module table 252 includes a DST execution unit ID field 276, a DT execution module ID field 278, and a DT execution module capabilities field 280. The DST execution unit ID field 276 includes the identity of DST units in the DSTN module. The DT execution module ID field 278 includes the identity of each DT execution unit in each DST unit. For example, DST unit 1 includes three DT executions modules (e.g., 1_1, 1_2, and 1_3). The DT execution capabilities field 280 includes identity of the capabilities of the corresponding DT execution unit. For example, DT execution module 1_1 includes capabilities X, where X includes one or more of MIPS capabilities, processing resources (e.g., quantity and capability of microprocessors, CPUs, digital signal processors, co-processor, microcontrollers, arithmetic logic circuitry, and/or any other analog and/or digital processing circuitry), availability of the processing resources, memory information (e.g., type, size, availability, etc.), and/or any information germane to executing one or more tasks.

From these tables, the task distribution module 232 generates the DST allocation information 242 to indicate where the data is stored, how to partition the data, where the task is stored, how to partition the task, which DT execution units should perform which partial task on which data partitions, where and how intermediate results are to be stored, etc. If multiple tasks are being performed on the same data or different data, the task distribution module factors such information into its generation of the DST allocation information.

FIG. 30 is a diagram of a specific example of a distributed computing system performing tasks on stored data as a task flow 318. In this example, selected data 92 is data 2 and selected tasks are tasks 1, 2, and 3. Task 1 corresponds to analyzing translation of data from one language to another (e.g., human language or computer language); task 2 corresponds to finding specific words and/or phrases in the data; and task 3 corresponds to finding specific translated words and/or phrases in translated data.

In this example, task 1 includes 7 sub-tasks: task 1_1—identify non-words (non-ordered); task 1_2—identify unique words (non-ordered); task 1_3—translate (non-ordered); task 1_4—translate back (ordered after task 1_3); task 1_5—compare to ID errors (ordered after task 1-4); task 1_6—determine non-word translation errors (ordered after task 1_5 and 1_1); and task 1_7—determine correct translations (ordered after 1_5 and 1_2). The sub-task further indicates whether they are an ordered task (i.e., are dependent on the outcome of another task) or non-order (i.e., are independent of the outcome of another task). Task 2 does not include sub-tasks and task 3 includes two sub-tasks: task 3_1 translate; and task 3_2 find specific word or phrase in translated data.

In general, the three tasks collectively are selected to analyze data for translation accuracies, translation errors, translation anomalies, occurrence of specific words or phrases in the data, and occurrence of specific words or phrases on the translated data. Graphically, the data 92 is translated 306 into translated data 282; is analyzed for specific words and/or phrases 300 to produce a list of specific words and/or phrases 286; is analyzed for non-words 302 (e.g., not in a reference dictionary) to produce a list of non-words 290; and is analyzed for unique words 316 included in the data 92 (i.e., how many different words are included in the data) to produce a list of unique words 298. Each of these tasks is independent of each other and can therefore be processed in parallel if desired.

The translated data 282 is analyzed (e.g., sub-task 3_2) for specific translated words and/or phrases 304 to produce a list of specific translated words and/or phrases 288. The translated data 282 is translated back 308 (e.g., sub-task 1_4) into the language of the original data to produce re-translated data 284. These two tasks are dependent on the translate task (e.g., task 1_3) and thus must be ordered after the translation task, which may be in a pipelined ordering or a serial ordering. The re-translated data 284 is then compared 310 with the original data 92 to find words and/or phrases that did not translate (one way and/or the other) properly to produce a list of incorrectly translated words 294. As such, the comparing task (e.g., sub-task 1_5) 310 is ordered after the translation 306 and re-translation tasks 308 (e.g., sub-tasks 1_3 and 1_4).

The list of words incorrectly translated 294 is compared 312 to the list of non-words 290 to identify words that were not properly translated because the words are non-words to produce a list of errors due to non-words 292. In addition, the list of words incorrectly translated 294 is compared 314 to the list of unique words 298 to identify unique words that were properly translated to produce a list of correctly translated words 296. The comparison may also identify unique words that were not properly translated to produce a list of unique words that were not properly translated. Note that each list of words (e.g., specific words and/or phrases, non-words, unique words, translated words and/or phrases, etc.,) may include the word and/or phrase, how many times it is used, where in the data it is used, and/or any other information requested regarding a word and/or phrase.

FIG. 31 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a distributed storage and task processing network (DSTN) module storing data and task codes for the example of FIG. 30. As shown, DS encoded data 2 is stored as encoded data slices across the memory (e.g., stored in memories 88) of DST execution units 1-5; the DS encoded task code 1 (of task 1) and DS encoded task 3 are stored as encoded task slices across the memory of DST execution units 1-5; and DS encoded task code 2 (of task 2) is stored as encoded task slices across the memory of DST execution units 3-7. As indicated in the data storage information table and the task storage information table of FIG. 29, the respective data/task has DS parameters of 3/5 for their decode threshold/pillar width; hence spanning the memory of five DST execution units.

FIG. 32 is a diagram of an example of distributed storage and task (DST) allocation information 242 for the example of FIG. 30. The DST allocation information 242 includes data partitioning information 320, task execution information 322, and intermediate result information 324. The data partitioning information 320 includes the data identifier (ID), the number of partitions to split the data into, address information for each data partition, and whether the DS encoded data has to be transformed from pillar grouping to slice grouping. The task execution information 322 includes tabular information having a task identification field 326, a task ordering field 328, a data partition field ID 330, and a set of DT execution modules 332 to use for the distributed task processing per data partition. The intermediate result information 324 includes tabular information having a name ID field 334, an ID of the DST execution unit assigned to process the corresponding intermediate result 336, a scratch pad storage field 338, and an intermediate result storage field 340.

Continuing with the example of FIG. 30, where tasks 1-3 are to be distributedly performed on data 2, the data partitioning information includes the ID of data 2. In addition, the task distribution module determines whether the DS encoded data 2 is in the proper format for distributed computing (e.g., was stored as slice groupings). If not, the task distribution module indicates that the DS encoded data 2 format needs to be changed from the pillar grouping format to the slice grouping format, which will be done by the DSTN module. In addition, the task distribution module determines the number of partitions to divide the data into (e.g., 2_1 through 2 _(—) z) and addressing information for each partition.

The task distribution module generates an entry in the task execution information section for each sub-task to be performed. For example, task 1_1 (e.g., identify non-words on the data) has no task ordering (i.e., is independent of the results of other sub-tasks), is to be performed on data partitions 2_1 through 2 _(—) z by DT execution modules 1_1, 2_1, 3_1, 4_1, and 5_1. For instance, DT execution modules 1_1, 2_1, 3_1, 4_1, and 5_1 search for non-words in data partitions 2_1 through 2 _(—) z to produce task 1_1 intermediate results (R1-1, which is a list of non-words). Task 1_2 (e.g., identify unique words) has similar task execution information as task 1_1 to produce task 1_2 intermediate results (R1-2, which is the list of unique words).

Task 1_3 (e.g., translate) includes task execution information as being non-ordered (i.e., is independent), having DT execution modules 1_1, 2_1, 3_1, 4_1, and 5_1 translate data partitions 2_1 through 2_4 and having DT execution modules 1_2, 2_2, 3_2, 4_2, and 5_2 translate data partitions 2_5 through 2 _(—) z to produce task 1_3 intermediate results (R1-3, which is the translated data). In this example, the data partitions are grouped, where different sets of DT execution modules perform a distributed sub-task (or task) on each data partition group, which allows for further parallel processing.

Task 1_4 (e.g., translate back) is ordered after task 1_3 and is to be executed on task 1_3's intermediate result (e.g., R1-3_1) (e.g., the translated data). DT execution modules 1_1, 2_1, 3_1, 4_1, and 5_1 are allocated to translate back task 1_3 intermediate result partitions R1-3_1 through R1-3_4 and DT execution modules 1_2, 2_2, 6_1, 7_1, and 7_2 are allocated to translate back task 1_3 intermediate result partitions R1-3_5 through R1-3 _(—) z to produce task 1-4 intermediate results (R1-4, which is the translated back data).

Task 1_5 (e.g., compare data and translated data to identify translation errors) is ordered after task 1_4 and is to be executed on task 1_4's intermediate results (R4-1) and on the data. DT execution modules 1_1, 2_1, 3_1, 4_1, and 5_1 are allocated to compare the data partitions (2_1 through 2 _(—) z) with partitions of task 1-4 intermediate results partitions R1-4_1 through R1-4_z to produce task 1_5 intermediate results (R1-5, which is the list words translated incorrectly).

Task 1_6 (e.g., determine non-word translation errors) is ordered after tasks 1_1 and 1_5 and is to be executed on tasks 1_1's and 1_5's intermediate results (R1-1 and R1-5). DT execution modules 1_1, 2_1, 3_1, 4_1, and 5_1 are allocated to compare the partitions of task 1_1 intermediate results (R1-1_1 through R1-1 _(—) z) with partitions of task 1-5 intermediate results partitions (R1-5_1 through R1-5 _(—) z) to produce task 1_6 intermediate results (R1-6, which is the list translation errors due to non-words).

Task 1_7 (e.g., determine words correctly translated) is ordered after tasks 1_2 and 1_5 and is to be executed on tasks 1_2's and 1_5's intermediate results (R1-1 and R1-5). DT execution modules 1_2, 2_2, 3_2, 4_2, and 5_2 are allocated to compare the partitions of task 1_2 intermediate results (R1-2_1 through R1-2 _(—) z) with partitions of task 1-5 intermediate results partitions (R1-5_1 through R1-5 _(—) z) to produce task 1_7 intermediate results (R1-7, which is the list of correctly translated words).

Task 2 (e.g., find specific words and/or phrases) has no task ordering (i.e., is independent of the results of other sub-tasks), is to be performed on data partitions 2_1 through 2 _(—) z by DT execution modules 3_1, 4_1, 5_1, 6_1, and 7_1. For instance, DT execution modules 3_1, 4_1, 5_1, 6_1, and 7_1 search for specific words and/or phrases in data partitions 2_1 through 2 _(—) z to produce task 2 intermediate results (R2, which is a list of specific words and/or phrases).

Task 3_2 (e.g., find specific translated words and/or phrases) is ordered after task 1_3 (e.g., translate) is to be performed on partitions R1-3_1 through R1-3 _(—) z by DT execution modules 1_2, 2_2, 3_2, 4_2, and 5_2. For instance, DT execution modules 1_2, 2_2, 3_2, 4_2, and 5_2 search for specific translated words and/or phrases in the partitions of the translated data (R1-3_1 through R1-3 _(—) z) to produce task 3_2 intermediate results (R3-2, which is a list of specific translated words and/or phrases).

For each task, the intermediate result information indicates which DST unit is responsible for overseeing execution of the task and, if needed, processing the partial results generated by the set of allocated DT execution units. In addition, the intermediate result information indicates a scratch pad memory for the task and where the corresponding intermediate results are to be stored. For example, for intermediate result R1-1 (the intermediate result of task 1_1), DST unit 1 is responsible for overseeing execution of the task 1_1 and coordinates storage of the intermediate result as encoded intermediate result slices stored in memory of DST execution units 1-5. In general, the scratch pad is for storing non-DS encoded intermediate results and the intermediate result storage is for storing DS encoded intermediate results.

FIGS. 33-38 are schematic block diagrams of the distributed storage and task network (DSTN) module performing the example of FIG. 30. In FIG. 33, the DSTN module accesses the data 92 and partitions it into a plurality of partitions 1-z in accordance with distributed storage and task network (DST) allocation information. For each data partition, the DSTN identifies a set of its DT (distributed task) execution modules 90 to perform the task (e.g., identify non-words (i.e., not in a reference dictionary) within the data partition) in accordance with the DST allocation information. From data partition to data partition, the set of DT execution modules 90 may be the same, different, or a combination thereof (e.g., some data partitions use the same set while other data partitions use different sets).

For the first data partition, the first set of DT execution modules (e.g., 1_1, 2_1, 3_1, 4_1, and 5_1 per the DST allocation information of FIG. 32) executes task 1_1 to produce a first partial result 102 of non-words found in the first data partition. The second set of DT execution modules (e.g., 1_1, 2_1, 3_1, 4_1, and 5_1 per the DST allocation information of FIG. 32) executes task 1_1 to produce a second partial result 102 of non-words found in the second data partition. The sets of DT execution modules (as per the DST allocation information) perform task 1_1 on the data partitions until the “z” set of DT execution modules performs task 1_1 on the “zth” data partition to produce a “zth” partial result 102 of non-words found in the “zth” data partition.

As indicated in the DST allocation information of FIG. 32, DST execution unit 1 is assigned to process the first through “zth” partial results to produce the first intermediate result (R1-1), which is a list of non-words found in the data. For instance, each set of DT execution modules 90 stores its respective partial result in the scratchpad memory of DST execution unit 1 (which is identified in the DST allocation or may be determined by DST execution unit 1). A processing module of DST execution 1 is engaged to aggregate the first through “zth” partial results to produce the first intermediate result (e.g., R1_1). The processing module stores the first intermediate result as non-DS error encoded data in the scratchpad memory or in another section of memory of DST execution unit 1.

DST execution unit 1 engages its DST client module to slice grouping based DS error encode the first intermediate result (e.g., the list of non-words). To begin the encoding, the DST client module determines whether the list of non-words is of a sufficient size to partition (e.g., greater than a Terabyte). If yes, it partitions the first intermediate result (R1-1) into a plurality of partitions (e.g., R1-1_1 through R1-1 _(—) m). If the first intermediate result is not of sufficient size to partition, it is not partitioned.

For each partition of the first intermediate result, or for the first intermediate result, the DST client module uses the DS error encoding parameters of the data (e.g., DS parameters of data 2, which includes 3/5 decode threshold/pillar width ratio) to produce slice groupings. The slice groupings are stored in the intermediate result memory (e.g., allocated memory in the memories of DST execution units 1-5).

In FIG. 34, the DSTN module is performing task 1_2 (e.g., find unique words) on the data 92. To begin, the DSTN module accesses the data 92 and partitions it into a plurality of partitions 1-z in accordance with the DST allocation information or it may use the data partitions of task 1_1 if the partitioning is the same. For each data partition, the DSTN identifies a set of its DT execution modules to perform task 1_2 in accordance with the DST allocation information. From data partition to data partition, the set of DT execution modules may be the same, different, or a combination thereof. For the data partitions, the allocated set of DT execution modules executes task 1_2 to produce a partial results (e.g., 1^(st) through “zth”) of unique words found in the data partitions.

As indicated in the DST allocation information of FIG. 32, DST execution unit 1 is assigned to process the first through “zth” partial results 102 of task 1_2 to produce the second intermediate result (R1-2), which is a list of unique words found in the data 92. The processing module of DST execution 1 is engaged to aggregate the first through “zth” partial results of unique words to produce the second intermediate result. The processing module stores the second intermediate result as non-DS error encoded data in the scratchpad memory or in another section of memory of DST execution unit 1.

DST execution unit 1 engages its DST client module to slice grouping based DS error encode the second intermediate result (e.g., the list of non-words). To begin the encoding, the DST client module determines whether the list of unique words is of a sufficient size to partition (e.g., greater than a Terabyte). If yes, it partitions the second intermediate result (R1-2) into a plurality of partitions (e.g., R1-2_1 through R1-2 _(—) m). If the second intermediate result is not of sufficient size to partition, it is not partitioned.

For each partition of the second intermediate result, or for the second intermediate results, the DST client module uses the DS error encoding parameters of the data (e.g., DS parameters of data 2, which includes 3/5 decode threshold/pillar width ratio) to produce slice groupings. The slice groupings are stored in the intermediate result memory (e.g., allocated memory in the memories of DST execution units 1-5).

In FIG. 35, the DSTN module is performing task 1_3 (e.g., translate) on the data 92. To begin, the DSTN module accesses the data 92 and partitions it into a plurality of partitions 1-z in accordance with the DST allocation information or it may use the data partitions of task 1_1 if the partitioning is the same. For each data partition, the DSTN identifies a set of its DT execution modules to perform task 1_3 in accordance with the DST allocation information (e.g., DT execution modules 1_1, 2_1, 3_1, 4_1, and 5_1 translate data partitions 2_1 through 2_4 and DT execution modules 1_2, 2_2, 3_2, 4_2, and 5_2 translate data partitions 2_5 through 2 _(—) z).

For the data partitions, the allocated set of DT execution modules 90 executes task 1_3 to produce partial results 102 (e.g., 1^(st) through “zth”) of translated data.

As indicated in the DST allocation information of FIG. 32, DST execution unit 2 is assigned to process the first through “zth” partial results of task 1_3 to produce the third intermediate result (R1-3), which is translated data. The processing module of DST execution 2 is engaged to aggregate the first through “zth” partial results of translated data to produce the third intermediate result. The processing module stores the third intermediate result as non-DS error encoded data in the scratchpad memory or in another section of memory of DST execution unit 2.

DST execution unit 2 engages its DST client module to slice grouping based DS error encode the third intermediate result (e.g., translated data). To begin the encoding, the DST client module partitions the third intermediate result (R1-3) into a plurality of partitions (e.g., R1-3_1 through R1-3 _(—) y). For each partition of the third intermediate result, the DST client module uses the DS error encoding parameters of the data (e.g., DS parameters of data 2, which includes 3/5 decode threshold/pillar width ratio) to produce slice groupings. The slice groupings are stored in the intermediate result memory (e.g., allocated memory in the memories of DST execution units 2-6 per the DST allocation information).

As is further shown in FIG. 35, the DSTN module is performing task 1_4 (e.g., retranslate) on the translated data of the third intermediate result. To begin, the DSTN module accesses the translated data (from the scratchpad memory or from the intermediate result memory and decodes it) and partitions it into a plurality of partitions in accordance with the DST allocation information. For each partition of the third intermediate result, the DSTN identifies a set of its DT execution modules 90 to perform task 1_4 in accordance with the DST allocation information (e.g., DT execution modules 1_1, 2_1, 3_1, 4_1, and 5_1 are allocated to translate back partitions R1-3_1 through R1-3_4 and DT execution modules 1_2, 2_2, 6_1, 7_1, and 7_2 are allocated to translate back partitions R1-3_5 through R1-3 _(—) z). For the partitions, the allocated set of DT execution modules executes task 1_4 to produce partial results 102 (e.g., 1^(st) through “zth”) of re-translated data.

As indicated in the DST allocation information of FIG. 32, DST execution unit 3 is assigned to process the first through “zth” partial results of task 1_4 to produce the fourth intermediate result (R1-4), which is retranslated data. The processing module of DST execution 3 is engaged to aggregate the first through “zth” partial results of retranslated data to produce the fourth intermediate result. The processing module stores the fourth intermediate result as non-DS error encoded data in the scratchpad memory or in another section of memory of DST execution unit 3.

DST execution unit 3 engages its DST client module to slice grouping based DS error encode the fourth intermediate result (e.g., retranslated data). To begin the encoding, the DST client module partitions the fourth intermediate result (R1-4) into a plurality of partitions (e.g., R1-4_1 through R1-4 _(—) z). For each partition of the fourth intermediate result, the DST client module uses the DS error encoding parameters of the data (e.g., DS parameters of data 2, which includes 3/5 decode threshold/pillar width ratio) to produce slice groupings. The slice groupings are stored in the intermediate result memory (e.g., allocated memory in the memories of DST execution units 3-7 per the DST allocation information).

In FIG. 36, a distributed storage and task network (DSTN) module is performing task 1_5 (e.g., compare) on data 92 and retranslated data of FIG. 35. To begin, the DSTN module accesses the data 92 and partitions it into a plurality of partitions in accordance with the DST allocation information or it may use the data partitions of task 1_1 if the partitioning is the same. The DSTN module also accesses the retranslated data from the scratchpad memory, or from the intermediate result memory and decodes it, and partitions it into a plurality of partitions in accordance with the DST allocation information. The number of partitions of the retranslated data corresponds to the number of partitions of the data.

For each pair of partitions (e.g., data partition 1 and retranslated data partition 1), the DSTN identifies a set of its DT execution modules 90 to perform task 1_5 in accordance with the DST allocation information (e.g., DT execution modules 1_1, 2_1, 3_1, 4_1, and 5_1). For each pair of partitions, the allocated set of DT execution modules executes task 1_5 to produce partial results 102 (e.g., 1^(st) through “zth”) of a list of incorrectly translated words and/or phrases.

As indicated in the DST allocation information of FIG. 32, DST execution unit 1 is assigned to process the first through “zth” partial results of task 1_5 to produce the fifth intermediate result (R1-5), which is the list of incorrectly translated words and/or phrases. In particular, the processing module of DST execution 1 is engaged to aggregate the first through “zth” partial results of the list of incorrectly translated words and/or phrases to produce the fifth intermediate result. The processing module stores the fifth intermediate result as non-DS error encoded data in the scratchpad memory or in another section of memory of DST execution unit 1.

DST execution unit 1 engages its DST client module to slice grouping based DS error encode the fifth intermediate result. To begin the encoding, the DST client module partitions the fifth intermediate result (R1-5) into a plurality of partitions (e.g., R1-5_1 through R1-5 _(—) z). For each partition of the fifth intermediate result, the DST client module uses the DS error encoding parameters of the data (e.g., DS parameters of data 2, which includes 3/5 decode threshold/pillar width ratio) to produce slice groupings. The slice groupings are stored in the intermediate result memory (e.g., allocated memory in the memories of DST execution units 1-5 per the DST allocation information).

As is further shown in FIG. 36, the DSTN module is performing task 1_6 (e.g., translation errors due to non-words) on the list of incorrectly translated words and/or phrases (e.g., the fifth intermediate result R1-5) and the list of non-words (e.g., the first intermediate result R1-1). To begin, the DSTN module accesses the lists and partitions them into a corresponding number of partitions.

For each pair of partitions (e.g., partition R1-1_1 and partition R1-5_1), the DSTN identifies a set of its DT execution modules 90 to perform task 1_6 in accordance with the DST allocation information (e.g., DT execution modules 1_1, 2_1, 3_1, 4_1, and 5_1). For each pair of partitions, the allocated set of DT execution modules executes task 1_6 to produce partial results 102 (e.g., 1^(st) through “zth”) of a list of incorrectly translated words and/or phrases due to non-words.

As indicated in the DST allocation information of FIG. 32, DST execution unit 2 is assigned to process the first through “zth” partial results of task 1_6 to produce the sixth intermediate result (R1-6), which is the list of incorrectly translated words and/or phrases due to non-words. In particular, the processing module of DST execution 2 is engaged to aggregate the first through “zth” partial results of the list of incorrectly translated words and/or phrases due to non-words to produce the sixth intermediate result. The processing module stores the sixth intermediate result as non-DS error encoded data in the scratchpad memory or in another section of memory of DST execution unit 2.

DST execution unit 2 engages its DST client module to slice grouping based DS error encode the sixth intermediate result. To begin the encoding, the DST client module partitions the sixth intermediate result (R1-6) into a plurality of partitions (e.g., R1-6_1 through R1-6 _(—) z). For each partition of the sixth intermediate result, the DST client module uses the DS error encoding parameters of the data (e.g., DS parameters of data 2, which includes 3/5 decode threshold/pillar width ratio) to produce slice groupings. The slice groupings are stored in the intermediate result memory (e.g., allocated memory in the memories of DST execution units 2-6 per the DST allocation information).

As is still further shown in FIG. 36, the DSTN module is performing task 1_7 (e.g., correctly translated words and/or phrases) on the list of incorrectly translated words and/or phrases (e.g., the fifth intermediate result R1-5) and the list of unique words (e.g., the second intermediate result R1-2). To begin, the DSTN module accesses the lists and partitions them into a corresponding number of partitions.

For each pair of partitions (e.g., partition R1-2_1 and partition R1-5_1), the DSTN identifies a set of its DT execution modules 90 to perform task 1_7 in accordance with the DST allocation information (e.g., DT execution modules 1_2, 2_2, 3_2, 4_2, and 5_2). For each pair of partitions, the allocated set of DT execution modules executes task 1_7 to produce partial results 102 (e.g., 1^(st) through “zth”) of a list of correctly translated words and/or phrases.

As indicated in the DST allocation information of FIG. 32, DST execution unit 3 is assigned to process the first through “zth” partial results of task 1_7 to produce the seventh intermediate result (R1-7), which is the list of correctly translated words and/or phrases. In particular, the processing module of DST execution 3 is engaged to aggregate the first through “zth” partial results of the list of correctly translated words and/or phrases to produce the seventh intermediate result. The processing module stores the seventh intermediate result as non-DS error encoded data in the scratchpad memory or in another section of memory of DST execution unit 3.

DST execution unit 3 engages its DST client module to slice grouping based DS error encode the seventh intermediate result. To begin the encoding, the DST client module partitions the seventh intermediate result (R1-7) into a plurality of partitions (e.g., R1-7_1 through R1-7_z). For each partition of the seventh intermediate result, the DST client module uses the DS error encoding parameters of the data (e.g., DS parameters of data 2, which includes 3/5 decode threshold/pillar width ratio) to produce slice groupings. The slice groupings are stored in the intermediate result memory (e.g., allocated memory in the memories of DST execution units 3-7 per the DST allocation information).

In FIG. 37, the distributed storage and task network (DSTN) module is performing task 2 (e.g., find specific words and/or phrases) on the data 92. To begin, the DSTN module accesses the data and partitions it into a plurality of partitions 1-z in accordance with the DST allocation information or it may use the data partitions of task 1_1 if the partitioning is the same. For each data partition, the DSTN identifies a set of its DT execution modules 90 to perform task 2 in accordance with the DST allocation information. From data partition to data partition, the set of DT execution modules may be the same, different, or a combination thereof. For the data partitions, the allocated set of DT execution modules executes task 2 to produce partial results 102 (e.g., 1^(st) through “zth”) of specific words and/or phrases found in the data partitions.

As indicated in the DST allocation information of FIG. 32, DST execution unit 7 is assigned to process the first through “zth” partial results of task 2 to produce task 2 intermediate result (R2), which is a list of specific words and/or phrases found in the data. The processing module of DST execution 7 is engaged to aggregate the first through “zth” partial results of specific words and/or phrases to produce the task 2 intermediate result. The processing module stores the task 2 intermediate result as non-DS error encoded data in the scratchpad memory or in another section of memory of DST execution unit 7.

DST execution unit 7 engages its DST client module to slice grouping based DS error encode the task 2 intermediate result. To begin the encoding, the DST client module determines whether the list of specific words and/or phrases is of a sufficient size to partition (e.g., greater than a Terabyte). If yes, it partitions the task 2 intermediate result (R2) into a plurality of partitions (e.g., R2_1 through R2 _(—) m). If the task 2 intermediate result is not of sufficient size to partition, it is not partitioned.

For each partition of the task 2 intermediate result, or for the task 2 intermediate results, the DST client module uses the DS error encoding parameters of the data (e.g., DS parameters of data 2, which includes 3/5 decode threshold/pillar width ratio) to produce slice groupings. The slice groupings are stored in the intermediate result memory (e.g., allocated memory in the memories of DST execution units 1-4, and 7).

In FIG. 38, the distributed storage and task network (DSTN) module is performing task 3 (e.g., find specific translated words and/or phrases) on the translated data (R1-3). To begin, the DSTN module accesses the translated data (from the scratchpad memory or from the intermediate result memory and decodes it) and partitions it into a plurality of partitions in accordance with the DST allocation information. For each partition, the DSTN identifies a set of its DT execution modules to perform task 3 in accordance with the DST allocation information. From partition to partition, the set of DT execution modules may be the same, different, or a combination thereof. For the partitions, the allocated set of DT execution modules 90 executes task 3 to produce partial results 102 (e.g., 1^(st) through “zth”) of specific translated words and/or phrases found in the data partitions.

As indicated in the DST allocation information of FIG. 32, DST execution unit 5 is assigned to process the first through “zth” partial results of task 3 to produce task 3 intermediate result (R3), which is a list of specific translated words and/or phrases found in the translated data. In particular, the processing module of DST execution 5 is engaged to aggregate the first through “zth” partial results of specific translated words and/or phrases to produce the task 3 intermediate result. The processing module stores the task 3 intermediate result as non-DS error encoded data in the scratchpad memory or in another section of memory of DST execution unit 7.

DST execution unit 5 engages its DST client module to slice grouping based DS error encode the task 3 intermediate result. To begin the encoding, the DST client module determines whether the list of specific translated words and/or phrases is of a sufficient size to partition (e.g., greater than a Terabyte). If yes, it partitions the task 3 intermediate result (R3) into a plurality of partitions (e.g., R3_1 through R3 _(—) m). If the task 3 intermediate result is not of sufficient size to partition, it is not partitioned.

For each partition of the task 3 intermediate result, or for the task 3 intermediate results, the DST client module uses the DS error encoding parameters of the data (e.g., DS parameters of data 2, which includes 3/5 decode threshold/pillar width ratio) to produce slice groupings. The slice groupings are stored in the intermediate result memory (e.g., allocated memory in the memories of DST execution units 1-4, 5, and 7).

FIG. 39 is a diagram of an example of combining result information into final results 104 for the example of FIG. 30. In this example, the result information includes the list of specific words and/or phrases found in the data (task 2 intermediate result), the list of specific translated words and/or phrases found in the data (task 3 intermediate result), the list of non-words found in the data (task 1 first intermediate result R1-1), the list of unique words found in the data (task 1 second intermediate result R1-2), the list of translation errors due to non-words (task 1 sixth intermediate result R1-6), and the list of correctly translated words and/or phrases (task 1 seventh intermediate result R1-7). The task distribution module provides the result information to the requesting DST client module as the results 104.

FIGS. 40A-B are schematic block diagrams of an embodiment of a dispersed storage network (DSN) that includes a set of distributed storage and task (DST) execution (EX) units 1-n, the network 24 of FIG. 1, and the outbound DST processing 80 of FIG. 3. Each DST execution unit may be implemented utilizing the DST execution unit 36 of FIG. 1. Hereafter, each DST execution unit may be interchangeably referred to as a storage unit and the set of DST execution units may be referred to as a set of storage units. Hereafter, each of the outbound DST processing 80 and the DST execution units may be interchangeably referred to as computing devices. The DSN functions to store data.

FIG. 40A illustrates steps of an example of operation of the storing of the data where a computing device of the DSN (e.g., the outbound DST processing 80) receives a store request 350, where the store request 350 includes one or more of data for storage, an identifier of the data, a revision level indicator of the data (e.g., a revision level when known or an unknown revision indicator), and a requesting entity identifier (ID). Having received the data for storage, the outbound DST processing 80 divides the data into one or more data segments in accordance with a data segmentation scheme. The data segmentation scheme includes at least one of evenly dividing the data object to produce a fixed number of data segments and dividing the data object by a predetermined data segment size to produce the one or more data segments.

For each data segment, the outbound DST processing 80 dispersed storage error encodes the data segment to produce a set of encoded data slices (e.g., slices 1-n). Having produced the set of encoded data slices, the computing device (e.g., the outbound DST processing 80) generates a set of write requests regarding the set of encoded data slices (e.g., a set of write unknown slice revision requests 1-n), where a write request of the set of write requests includes an encoded data slice of the set of encoded data slices, a corresponding slice name, and a transaction number corresponding to the set of write requests. For example, the outbound DST processing 80 generates a transaction number based on one or more of a real-time clock, a random number generator, and a previous transaction number to produce a unique number as the transaction number. As another example, the DST processing 80 generates a source name based on the data identifier and generates a set of slice names based on the source name, where the set of slice names includes the corresponding slice name. Having generated the set of write requests, the computing device sends the set of write requests to a set of storage units. For example, the outbound DST processing 80 sends, via the network 24, the set of write unknown slice revision requests 1-n to the set of DST execution units 1-n.

Each of the at least some of the storage units of the set of storage units receiving a write request stores the encoded data slice corresponding to the slice name, restricts access to the encoded data slice pending the write commit message (e.g., does not make the encoded data slice visible to the retrieving entities), and maintains access to a previous revision level of the encoded data slice pending a write commit message. For example, DST execution unit 2 stores encoded data slice 2 revision unknown (e.g., to be determined), restricts access to the encoded data slice 2 of the unknown revision, and maintains access to encoded data slice 2 of revisions 1 and 3 (e.g., that are visible).

FIG. 40B illustrates further steps of the example of operation of the storing of the data where each of at least some of the storage units of the set of storage units generates a write response that includes the transaction number and a list of revision levels corresponding to the slice name (e.g., visible at the storage unit). The write response (e.g., write unknown slice revision response) may further include a particular slice name corresponding to a particular encoded data slice of the set of encoded data slices. The storage unit generates the write response by identifying stored encoded data slices having the slice name, determining revision values for each of the stored encoded data slices, and generating the list of revision levels based on the revision values. For example, DST execution unit 2 generates the right response by determining revision values 1 and 3 for stored encoded data slices of the slice name received by the DST execution unit 2 and generates the list of revision levels to include the revision values 1 and 3. As another example, DST execution unit 1 generates its list of revision levels to include revision levels 1, 2, and 3; and DST execution unit 3 generates its list of revision levels to include revision levels 1 and 2.

Having generated the write response, each of the at least some of the storage units sends the write response to the computing device. For example, DST execution unit 1 sends, via the network 24, the write unknown slice revision response 1 to the outbound DST processing 80; DST execution unit 2 sends, via the network 24, the write unknown slice revision response 2 to the outbound DST processing 80, etc.

The computing device receives the write responses from at least some of the storage units, where the write responses includes at least a decode threshold number of write responses. For example, the outbound DST processing 80 receives, via the network 24, a decode threshold number of write unknown slice revision responses (e.g., write responses). As such, the outbound DST processing 80 determines that at least a decode threshold number of encoded data slices of the set of encoded data slices are at least temporarily stored in the set of DST execution units awaiting assignment of new revision levels. The decode threshold number includes a number of encoded data slices of the set of encoded data slices required to recover the data segment. Alternatively, the outbound DST processing 80 receives a write threshold number of write unknown slice revision responses, where the write threshold is greater than the decode threshold and less than a pillar width number, where the pillar width number includes a number of encoded data slices of the set of encoded data slices.

Having received the write responses, the computing device determines a most current revision level regarding the set of encoded data slices based on the lists of revision levels from the at least some of the storage units. The determining the most current revision level includes a variety of approaches. A first approach includes reviewing the lists of revision levels from the at some of the storage units to determine a highest revision value, where the lists of revision levels includes a list of revision values for the corresponding slice name and utilizing the highest revision value as the most current revision level. For example, the outbound DST processing 80 reviews the list of revision levels and determines that the highest revision value is 3.

A second approach to determine the most current revision level includes reviewing the lists of revision levels from the at least some of the storage units to determine a highest revision value in a threshold number (e.g., a decode threshold number, a write threshold number, a read threshold number, any other number) of lists of revision levels, where the lists of revision levels includes a list of revision values for the corresponding slice name and utilizing the highest revision value in the threshold number of lists of revision levels as the most current revision level. For example, the outbound DST processing 80 reviews the list of revision levels and determines that the highest revision value in a decode threshold number of lists of revision levels is 3.

Having determined the most current revision level, the computing device generates a set of write commit messages, where a write commit message includes the transaction number and the new revision level for the set of encoded data slices. The generating the set of write commit messages includes at least one of determining the new revision level by incrementing the most current revision level and determining the new revision level by performing a mathematical function on the most current revision level. For example, the outbound DST processing 80 determines the new revision level by incrementing the most current revision level of 3 by 1 to produce the new revision level of 4. As another example, the outbound DST processing 80 determines a new revision level by performing an addition mathematical function that includes adding the number 2 to the most current revision level of 3 to produce the new revision level of 5 (e.g., to facilitate skipping revision levels for reserve).

Having generated the set of write commit messages, the computing device sends the set of write commit messages to the set of storage units. For example, the outbound DST processing 80 sends, via the network 24, revision 4 commit messages 1-n to the set of DST execution units 1-n. Each storage unit receiving a corresponding write commit message associates the new revision level with a corresponding encoded data slice of the set of encoded data slices and provides access to the encoded data slice (e.g., making the encoded data slice visible to the retrieving entities). For example, DST execution unit 3 associates revision 4 with the encoded data slice 3 of the set of encoded data slices in a local slice table and makes the encoded data slice 3 of revision 4 retrievable by the retrieving entities (e.g., updates a status to retrievable in the local slice table).

FIG. 40C is a flowchart illustrating an example of storing data. In particular, a method is presented for use in conjunction with one or more functions and features described in conjunction with FIGS. 1-39, 40A-B, and also FIG. 40C. The method includes step 360 where a processing module of a computing device of one or more computing devices of a dispersed storage network (DSN) generates a set of write requests regarding a set of encoded data slices, where a write request of the set of write requests includes an encoded data slice of the set of encoded data slices, a corresponding slice name, and a transaction number corresponding to the set of write requests.

The method continues at step 362 where the computing device sends the set of write requests to a set of storage units. The method continues at step 364 where each of at least some of the storage units of the set of storage units generates a write response that includes the transaction number and a list of revision levels corresponding to the slice name. The write response may further include a particular slice name corresponding to a particular encoded data slice of the set of encoded data slices. The generating the write response includes identifying stored encoded data slices having the slice name, determining revision values for each of the stored encoded data slices, and generating the list of revision levels based on the revision values. The generating the write response may further include storing the encoded data slice corresponding to the slice name, restricting access to the encoded data slice pending the write commit message, and maintaining access to a previous revision level of the encoded data slice pending the write commit message.

The method continues at step 366 where the computing device receives the write responses from the at least some of the storage units, where the write responses includes at least a decode threshold number of write responses. The method continues at step 368 where the computing device determines a most current revision level regarding the set of encoded data slices based on the lists of revision levels from the at least some of the storage units.

The determining the most current revision level includes a variety of approaches. A first approach includes reviewing the lists of revision levels from the at some of the storage units to determine a highest revision value, where the lists of revision levels includes a list of revision values for the corresponding slice name and utilizing the highest revision value as the most current revision level. A second approach to determine the most current revision level includes reviewing the lists of revision levels from the at some of the storage units to determine a highest revision value in a threshold number of lists of revision levels, where the list of revision levels includes a list of revision values for the corresponding slice name and utilizing the highest revision value in the threshold number of lists of revision levels as the most current revision level.

The method continues at step 370 where the computing device generates a set of write commit messages, where a write commit message includes the transaction number and a new revision level for the set of encoded data slices. The generating the set of write commit messages includes at least one of determining the new revision level by incrementing the most current revision level and determining the new revision level by performing a mathematical function (e.g., addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, factoring, etc.) on the most current revision level. The method continues at step 372 where the computing device sends the set of write commit messages to the set of storage units. The sending may further include each storage unit of the set of storage units receiving a corresponding write commit message associating the new revision level with a corresponding encoded data slice and providing access to the encoded data slice by retrieving entities.

The method described above in conjunction with the processing module can alternatively be performed by other modules of the dispersed storage network or by other devices. In addition, at least one memory section (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable storage medium) that stores operational instructions can, when executed by one or more processing modules of one or more computing devices of the dispersed storage network (DSN), cause the one or more computing devices to perform any or all of the method steps described above.

FIGS. 41A-B are schematic block diagrams of another embodiment of a dispersed storage network that includes a set of distributed storage and task (DST) execution (EX) units 1-n, the network 24 of FIG. 1, and the outbound DST processing 80 of FIG. 3. Each DST execution unit may be implemented utilizing the DST execution unit 36 of FIG. 1. The DSN functions to store multiple revisions of a data object, where each revision of the data object is dispersed storage error encoded to produce a plurality of sets of encoded data slices that are stored in the set of DST execution units 1-n.

FIG. 41A illustrates steps of an example of operation of the storing of the multiple revisions of the data object, where the outbound DST processing 80 receives a store request 400, where the store request 400 includes one or more of the data object for storage, an identifier of the data object, a revision level of the data object, and a requesting entity identifier (ID). Having received the data object for storage, the outbound DST processing 80 divides the data into one or more data segments in accordance with a data segmentation scheme. The data segmentation scheme includes at least one of evenly dividing the data object to produce a fixed number of data segments and dividing the data object by a predetermined data segment size.

For each data segment, the outbound DST processing 80 dispersed storage error encodes the data segment to produce a set of encoded data slices (e.g., slices 1-n). Having produced the set of encoded data slices, the outbound DST processing 80 selects a subset of the set of DST execution units. For example, the outbound DST processing 80 selects DST execution units associated with a most favorable level of storage reliability. As another example, the outbound DST processing 80 selects a number of DST execution units of the subset of the set of DST execution units based on a desired level of confidence for existing revision level determination. The number may be at least one of a predetermined number, a received number, a determined number based on the desired level of confidence, and a number recovered via a look up.

Having selected the subset of the set of DST execution units, the outbound DST processing 80 issues, via the network 24, list slice requests to the subset of the set of DST execution units, where each list slice request includes a slice name associated with the set of encoded data slices. For example, the outbound DST processing 80 issues list slice requests 2-3 to the DST execution units 2-3 when two DST execution units meet the desired level of confidence.

Having issued the list slice request, the outbound DST processing 80 receives list slice responses from the subset of the set of DST execution units, where each list slice response indicates a slice name and revision level corresponding to each stored encoded data slice of the requested slice name. Having received the list slice responses, the outbound DST processing 80 determines a highest current revision level based on the received list slice responses. The determining includes selecting a highest revision level of all responses and selecting a highest common revision level. For example, the outbound DST processing 80 indicates that revision level 3 is the highest revision level when receiving a list slice responses 2-3 that both indicate that revision level 3 is the highest revision level.

FIG. 41B illustrates further steps of the example of operation of the storing of the multiple revisions of the data object, where the outbound DST processing 80 selects a revision level for the set of encoded data slices. The selecting includes one of selecting one higher than the highest current revision level when storing new data and selecting a current revision level when overwriting data. Alternatively, the outbound DST processing 80 selects any revision level that is not currently in use when storing the new data.

Having selected the revision level, the outbound DST processing 80 generates a set of checked revision write slice requests, where each request includes one or more of a transaction number, an encoded data slice of the set of encoded data slices, a slice name associated with the encoded data slice, the highest revision level, and the selected revision level. Having generated the set of checked revision write slice requests, the outbound DST processing 80 sends, via the network 24, the set of checked revision write slice requests to the set of DST execution units 1-n. Alternatively, or in addition to, the outbound DST processing 80 issues a commit request when receiving a sufficient number of favorable checked revision write slice responses.

FIG. 41C is a flowchart illustrating another example of storing data. The method includes step 410 where a processing module (e.g., of a distributed storage and task (DST) client module) dispersed storage error encodes a data segment to produce a set of encoded data slices. The method continues at step 412 where the processing module selects a subset of a set of storage units. For example, the processing module identifies storage units associated with a most favorable storage reliability level.

The method continues at step 414 where the processing module issues list slice requests to the selected subset of the set of storage units. For example, the processing module generates the list slice request to include slice names associated with corresponding encoded data slices of the set of encoded data slices and sends the generated list slice requests to the selected subset of the set of storage units.

The method continues at step 416 where the processing module determines a highest current revision level based on received list slice responses. For example, the processing module extracts revision levels from the received list slice responses and selects an approach based on one or more of a predetermination, historical storage reliability levels, and a performance goal. The approaches include selecting a highest revision level, selecting a common highest revision level, and selecting a majority highest revision level.

The method continues at step 418 where the processing module selects a revision level for the set of encoded data slices. For example, the processing module selects a revision level greater than the highest current revision level when storing new data. As another example, the processing module selects a revision level associated with data to be overwritten when overwriting previously stored data.

The method continues at step 420 where the processing module generates a set of checked revision write slice requests that includes the selected revision level and the highest current revision level. For example, the processing module generates each of the set of checked revision write slice request to include a transaction number, an encoded data slice of the set of encoded data slices, a slice name associated with the encoded data slice, the highest current revision level, and the selected revision level.

The method continues at step 422 where the processing module sends the set of checked revision write slice requests to the set of storage units. For example, the processing module identifies a set of storage units and outputs the set of checked revision write slice requests to the identified set of storage units. Alternatively, or in addition to, the processing module issues a subsequent set of checked revision write slice requests with a different highest current revision level and/or selected revision level based on received check provision write slice responses, when the responses include an updated highest current revision level.

FIG. 42A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a dispersed storage network that includes a set of distributed storage and task (DST) execution (EX) units 1-n, the network 24 of FIG. 1, and the DST client module 34 of FIG. 1. Each DST execution unit includes a plurality of memories, where each memory is associated with a common dispersed storage network (DSN) address range corresponding to other DST execution units of the set of DST execution units. For example, each DST execution unit includes a first memory that is associated with a first common DSN address range, a second memory that is associated with a second common DSN address range, and the third memory that is associated with a third common DSN address range. Each DST execution unit may be implemented utilizing the DST execution unit 36 of FIG. 1. The DSN functions to perform memory maintenance tasks on the memories of the set of DST execution units, where data is encoded using a dispersed storage error coding function for storage in the set of DST execution units.

In an example of operation of the performing of the memory maintenance tasks, the DST client module 34 determines to perform the memory maintenance tasks for a set of memory devices associated with a common DSN address range. The determining may be based on one or more of detecting a memory failure, receiving an error message, interpreting a maintenance schedule, and receiving a request. For example, the DST client module 34 determines to perform the memory maintenance task for the second set of memory devices (e.g., MEM 1_2 through MEM n_2) when interpreting a maintenance schedule associated with defragmentation.

Having selected the set of memory devices, the DST client module 34 selects at most n-k memory devices of the selected set of memory devices for the performing of the maintenance tasks as selected memory devices, where n=an information dispersal algorithm (IDA) width number and k=a decode threshold number associated with the dispersed storage error coding function. The selecting may be based on one or more of a random selection, interpreting an error message, identifying a memory device associated with a longest time frame since a previous maintenance task cycle, and receiving a request. For example, the DST client module 34 selects DST execution unit k+1 through DST execution unit n for the performing of the maintenance tasks.

Having produced the selected memory devices, the DST client module 34 initiates the performing of the maintenance tasks for the selected memory devices. For example, the DST client module 34 issues, via the network 24, maintenance instructions to the DST execution unit k+1 through DST execution unit n to initiate maintenance tasks (e.g., garbage collection, defragmentation, access latency verification, access bandwidth verification, etc).

While the maintenance tasks are being performed, the DST client module 34 temporarily inhibits storage of encoded data slices to the set of memory devices. For example, the DST client module 34 rejects storage requests to override encoded data slices associated with the common DSN address range of the set of memory devices. As another example, the DST client module 34 assigns slice names to the new data for storage such that the slice names are not associated with the common DSN address range and proceeds to store the new data utilizing the slice names that are not associated with the common DSN address range of the set of memory devices (e.g., slices are stored to other sets of memory devices that are not performing the maintenance tasks).

While performing the maintenance task, the DST client module 34 temporarily accesses at least a decode threshold number of other memory devices of the set of memory devices when receiving a read data request that is associated with the common DSN address range. For example, the DST client module 34 issues access request 430 that includes read access commands 1 through k to DST execution units 1 through k (e.g., and not to the DST execution units of performing the maintenance tasks on memory devices of the set of memory devices).

When detecting completion of the maintenance tasks for the selected memory devices, the DST client module 34 selects a different at most n-k number of memory devices of the set of memory devices for performing further maintenance tasks (e.g., until each memory device of the set of memory devices has satisfactorily performed the maintenance tasks). For example, the DST client module 34 selects DST execution units 1-6 for a next round of maintenance task execution when n−k=6.

FIG. 42B is a flowchart illustrating an example of performing memory device maintenance tasks. The method includes step 440 where a processing module (e.g., of a distributed storage and task (DST) client module) determines to perform maintenance tasks associated with a set of memory devices of a common dispersed storage network (DSN) address range. The determining may be based on one or more of detecting a memory issue, receiving an error message, interpreting a maintenance schedule, and receiving a request.

The method continues at step 442 where the processing module selects at most n-k memory devices of the set of memory devices for the performing of the maintenance tasks. The selecting includes at least one of identifying next memory devices of a list of memory devices for maintenance tasks, performing a random selection, performing a round-robin selection, interpreting the error message, interpreting a schedule, and interpreting the request.

The method continues at step 444 where the processing module initiates the performing of the maintenance tasks for the selected memory devices. For example, the processing module sends an initiate maintenance task request to storage units associated with the identified memory devices and updates a table to track which storage units are performing the maintenance tasks.

While performing the maintenance tasks, the method continues at step 446 where the processing module facilitates inhibiting storage of encoded data slices in the set of memory devices. For example, the processing module rejects a received storage request when the request is associated with overriding previously stored data of the common DSN address range. As another example, the processing module assigns slice names for storage of new data associated with a new data identifier (e.g., that is not found in a DSN directory) such that the slice names are not associated with the common DSN address range.

While performing the maintenance task, the method continues at step 448 where the processing module temporarily accesses at least a decode threshold number of other memory devices of a set of memory devices when receiving a read data request associated with the common DSN address range. For example, when receiving the read data request that is associated with the common DSN address range, the processing module identifies the at least a decode threshold number of other memory devices of the set of memory devices, issues read slice requests to storage units associated with the identified other memory devices, and receives read slice responses from storage units associated with at least some of the identified other memory devices.

When detecting completion of the maintenance task for the selected memory devices, the method continues at step 450 where the processing module selects a different at most n-k memory devices of the set of memory devices when further memory devices require maintenance. For example, when detecting completion of the maintenance task, the processing module determines whether other memory devices of the set of memory devices requires maintenance, and when others require the maintenance, further selects a different at most n-k memory devices. The further selecting is based on one or more of memory devices of the list of memory devices for maintenance, a random selection, a round-robin selection, interpreting the error message, interpreting a schedule, and interpreting the request. The method branches back to step 444 where the processing module initiates the performing of the maintenance tasks when the further memory devices require maintenance.

FIG. 43A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a dispersed storage network (DSN) that includes one or more storage sets 1-2, the network 24 of FIG. 1, and the distributed storage and task (DST) client module 34 of FIG. 1. Each storage set includes a set of DST execution (EX) units 1-n. Each DST execution unit may be implemented utilizing the DST execution unit 36 of FIG. 1. The DSN functions to prioritize storage unit utilization, where the one or more storage sets mirror stored data when at least to storage sets are utilized.

In an example of operation of the prioritizing of the storage unit utilization, the DST client module 34 detects slice errors associated with one or more storage units of at least one of the storage sets. For example, the DST client module 34 receives, via the network 24, status information 1-n from the DST execution units 1-n of the storage set 1, where the status information includes an indication of slice availability by a slice name and revision level, compares the status information to identify a slice errors. The slice errors include one or more of missing slices (e.g., one or more revisions) missing delete markers, and corrupted slices. For instance, the DST client module 34 identifies a missing slice a revision level 3 from DST execution unit 2 and identifies a missing delete marker for slice 1 revision level 2 at DST execution unit 1. As another example, the DST client module 34 receives, via the network 24, status information set 2 from the storage set 2 and compares the status information set 2 to the status information 1-n from the storage set 1 to identify the slice errors.

Having detected the slice errors, the DST client module 34 updates, for each DST execution unit and each storage set, a usage priority level based on the detecting of slice errors. For example, the DST client module 34 lowers the priority when detecting an error and raises the priority when no errors are detected. When accessing data in one of the storage sets, the DST client module 34 selects one storage set based on the usage priority level of each of the storage sets to produce a selected storage set. For example, the DST client module 34 selects a storage set associated with a more favorable usage priority level (e.g., higher-level).

For the selected storage set, the DST client module 34 selects a threshold number of DST execution units of the set of DST execution units based on the usage priority level for each of the DST execution units. For example, when writing data, the DST client module 34 selects a write threshold number with a more favorable usage priority level. As another example, when reading store data, the DST client module 34 selects a read threshold number with a more favorable usage priority level. Having selected the threshold number of DST execution units, the DST client module 34 facilitates execution of the accessing of the data utilizing the selected threshold number of DST execution units. For example, the DST client module 34 issues, via the network 24, access requests to the selected DST execution units of the storage set 1 and receives access responses from at least some of the selected DST execution units.

FIG. 43B is a flowchart illustrating an example of prioritizing storage unit utilization. The method includes step 460 where a processing module (e.g., of a distributed storage and task (DST) client module) detects a slice error associated with a storage unit of a storage set of two or more affiliated storage sets, where the two or more affiliated storage sets may mirror stored data as substantially identical sets of encoded data slices. For example, the processing module obtains slice status information from storage units of the two or more affiliated storage sets, compares the status information, and identifies a storage anomaly (e.g., a missing slice, a corrupted slice) to produce the slice error.

The method continues at step 462 where the processing module updates a usage priority level associated with the storage unit and a usage priority level associated with the storage set. For example, the processing module maintains or raises the level when not detecting the slice error. As another example, the processing module lowers the level when detecting the slice error.

When accessing data in one of the two or more affiliated storage sets, the method continues at step 464 where the processing module selects the one storage set based on usage priority level. For example, the processing module selects a storage set associated with a more favorable usage priority level (e.g., a higher-level). For the selected storage set, the method continues at step 466 where the processing module selects a threshold number of storage units based on the usage priority levels for each of the storage units of the selected storage set. For example, the processing module selects a write threshold number associated with a more favorable usage priority level when writing data. As another example, the processing module selects a read threshold number associated with a more favorable usage priority level when reading data.

The method continues at step 468 where the processing module facilitates execution of accessing of the data utilizing the selected threshold number of storage units of the selected storage set. For example, the processing module issues access requests to the selected storage units of the selected storage set, receives access responses from at least some of the selected storage units of the selected storage set, and processes the received access responses to produce an overall access response (e.g., output data when reading, indicate storage of data and when storing the data).

FIG. 44A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a dispersed storage network that includes one or more storage sets 1-2, the network 24 of FIG. 1, and the distributed storage and task (DST) client module 34 of FIG. 1. Each storage set includes a set of DST execution (EX) units 1-n. Each DST execution unit includes a plurality of memory devices, where each memory device is associated with a set of memory devices of the set of DST execution units. Each set of memory devices is associated with a unique dispersed storage network (DSN) address range corresponding (e.g., common for each memory device of the set of memory devices). For example, each DST execution unit includes a first memory device that is associated with a first common DSN address range, a second memory device that is associated with a second common DSN address range, and a third memory device that is associated with a third common DSN address range. Each DST execution unit may be implemented utilizing the DST execution unit 36 of FIG. 1. The DSN functions to prioritize rebuilding of stored encoded data slices, where the one or more storage sets mirror stored data when at least two storage sets are utilized.

In an example of operation of the prioritizing of the rebuilding of the stored encoded data slices, the DST client module 34 detects one or more memory errors associated with a memory device of a set of memory devices associated with a common DSN address range. The detecting includes at least one of issuing a memory device information status to a DST execution unit corresponding to the memory device and receiving a memory device information status response, where the response indicates status of the memory device (e.g., unavailable, defective, available). For example, the DST client module 34 sends, via the network 24, a memory device information status request 1 to the DST execution unit 1 and receives a memory device status information response 1 indicating that memory 1_2 is associated with a memory error.

Having detected the memory error, the DST client module 34 establishes a rebuilding priority level for slice errors associated with the set of memory devices based on a number of detected memory errors. For example, the DST client module 34 establishes a relatively high rebuilding priority level for the second set of memory devices when determining that memory devices 1_2 and 2_2 are associated with the memory errors.

Having established the rebuilding priority level for slice errors, the DST client module 34 facilitates, in accordance with the established rebuilding priority level, a slice error detection for stored data within a plurality of sets of memory devices that includes the set of memory devices based on detection of one or more memory errors. For example, the DST client module 34 establishes a slice error scanning rate for stored data within the set of memory devices associated with the one or more memory errors based on the one or more memory errors. For instance, the DST client module 34 establishes the slice error scanning rate to scan at an above average rate when more memory errors have been detected. As another example, the DST client module 34, receives slice information from the set of DST execution units that indicates a slice error (e.g., a missing slice, a corrupted slice) has been detected within memory device 3_2 of the second set of memory devices.

When detecting a slice error, the DST client module 34 updates the rebuilding priority level to produce an updated rebuilding priority level based on one or more of a number of detected slice errors of the set of memory devices and a number of detected slice errors of a corresponding set of memory devices of another storage set (e.g., where data is neared, obtain memory device information in slice information).

Having updated the rebuilding priority level, the DST client module 34 facilitates generating a rebuilt encoded data slice for the slice error in accordance with the updated rebuilding priority level. For example, the DST client module 34 prioritizes rebuilding data associated with a highest number of slice errors and memory errors first. For instance, the DST client module 34 prioritizes rebuilding data of the second set of memory devices over that of the third set of memory devices when three total errors have been detected with regards to the second set of memory devices and just one error has been detected with regards to the third set of memory devices.

FIG. 44B is a flowchart illustrating an example of prioritizing rebuilding of encoded data slices. The method includes step 478 where a processing module (e.g., of a distributed storage and task (DST) client module) detects one or more memory errors associated with one or more memory devices of a set of memory devices. The detecting includes at least one of interpreting an error message, initiating a query, and interpreting a query response.

The method continues at step 480 where the processing module establishes a rebuilding priority level for slice errors associated with the set of memory devices based on the detected memory errors. For example, the processing module establishes a higher priority level when detecting more memory errors for the set of memory devices.

The method continues at step 482 where the processing module facilitates, in accordance with the rebuilding priority level, a slice error detection for storage in a plurality of sets of memory devices that includes the set of memory devices. For example, the processing module facilitates in accordance with other rebuilding priority levels associated with other sets of memory devices of the plurality of sets of memory devices and with the rebuilding priority level of the set of memory devices. For instance, the processing module scans more often for slice errors within available memory devices associated with other memory devices corresponding to hire numbers of memory errors.

When detecting a slice error, the method continues at step 484 where the processing module updates the rebuilding priority level to produce an updated rebuilding priority level. For example, the processing module utilizes a total number of errors based on memory errors and slice errors to update the rebuilding priority level.

The method continues at step 486 where the processing module facilitates generating a rebuilt encoded data slice for the detected slice error in accordance with the updated rebuilding priority level. For example, the processing module facilitates the generating of the rebuilt encoded data slice in accordance with one or more of the other rebuilding priority levels associated with other sets of memory devices of the plurality of sets of memory devices, with the rebuilding priority level of the set of memory devices, and with a rebuilding priority level of an associated set of memory devices of another set of memory devices (e.g., a mirror set of memory devices).

FIG. 45A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a dispersed storage network that includes one or more storage sets 1-2, the network 24 of FIG. 1, and the distributed storage and task (DST) client module 34 of FIG. 1. Each storage set includes a set of DST execution (EX) units 1-n. Each DST execution unit includes a plurality of memory devices, where each memory device is associated with a set of memory devices of the set of DST execution units. Each set of memory devices is associated with a unique dispersed storage network (DSN) address range corresponding (e.g., common for each memory device of the set of memory devices). For example, each DST execution unit includes a first memory device that is associated with a first common DSN address range, a second memory device that is associated with a second common DSN address range, and a third memory device that is associated with a third common DSN address range. Each DST execution unit may be implemented utilizing the DST execution unit 36 of FIG. 1. The DSN functions to prioritize replacement of failed memory devices, where the one or more storage sets mirror stored data when at least two storage sets are utilized.

In an example of operation of the prioritizing of the replacement of the failed memory devices, the DST client module 34 detects one or more memory errors associated with memory devices of two or more sets of memory devices. The detecting includes at least one of receiving an error message, issuing a query, and interpreting a query response. For example, the DST client module 34 receives memory device information from at least some of the DST execution units indicating that memory errors are associated with memories 1_2, 2_1, 2_3, and 3_1.

Having detected the one or more memory errors, the DST client module 34 facilitates slice error detection for stored data associated with each of the two or more sets of memory devices based on slice information from at least some of the DST execution units. For example, the DST processing module 34 issues, via the network 24, list slice requests to the DST execution units, receives list slice responses, and identifies slice errors based on comparing the list slice responses. For instance, the DST client module 34 detects a slice error associated with at least one encoded data slice corresponding to memory 3_3 of a third set of memory devices.

For each set of memory devices, the DST client module 34 establishes a memory replacement priority level for memory devices of the set of memory devices associated with the memory errors based on a number of memory errors of the set of memory devices and a number of detected slice errors for the store data associated with the set of memory devices. For example, the DST client module 34 establishes a highest memory replacement priority level for memory devices 2_1 and 3_1 (e.g., two memory errors), establishes a second highest memory replacement priority for memory device 2_3 (e.g., one memory error and one slice error), and establishes a third-highest memory replacement priority for memory device 1_2 (e.g., one memory error).

Having established the memory replacement priority levels, the DST client module 34 facilitates replacement of the memory devices of the two or more sets of memory devices associated with the one or more detected memory errors in accordance with the associated memory replacement priority level for each set of memory devices. The facilitating includes at least one of indicating the memory devices for replacement and the associated memory replacement priority level, and activating a dormant memory device is a replacement for a failed memory device in accordance with the memory replacement priority level.

FIG. 45B is a flowchart illustrating an example of prioritizing replacement of failed memory devices. The method includes step 490 where a processing module (e.g., of a distributed storage and task (DST) client module) detects one or more memory errors associated with memory devices of two or more sets of memory devices. The detecting includes at least one of interpreting an error message, initiating a query, and interpreting a query response.

The method continues at step 492 where the processing module facilitates slice error detection for stored data associated with each of the two or more sets of memory devices. For example, the processing module issues list slice requests or read slice requests, receives list slice responses or read slice responses, and identifies slice errors based on the received responses.

For each set of memory devices, the method continues at step 494 where the processing module establishes a memory replacement priority level for memory devices of the set of memory devices associated with the memory errors. For example, the processing module establishes the memory replacement priority level based on a total number of errors including a number of memory errors and a number of detected slice errors. For instance, the processing module establishes a higher priority for a higher total number of errors. As another instance, the processing module establishes a lower priority for a lower total number of errors. As yet another instance, the processing module weights memory errors more than slice errors of the total number of errors.

The method continues at step 496 where the processing module facilitates replacement of the memory devices of the two or more sets of memory devices associated with the one or more detected memory errors in accordance with the associated memory replacement priority level for each set of memory devices. For example, the processing module indicates the memory devices for replacement and the associated memory replacement priority level. As another example, the processing module activates a dormant memory device as a replacement for a failed memory device in accordance with the memory replacement priority level.

FIG. 46A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a dispersed storage network that includes one or more storage sets 1-2, the network 24 of FIG. 1, and the distributed storage and task (DST) client module 34 of FIG. 1. Each storage set includes a set of DST execution (EX) units 1-n. Each DST execution unit includes a plurality of memory devices, where each memory device is associated with a set of memory devices of the set of DST execution units. Each set of memory devices is associated with a unique dispersed storage network (DSN) address range corresponding (e.g., common for each memory device of the set of memory devices). For example, each DST execution unit includes a first memory device that is associated with a first common DSN address range, a second memory device that is associated with a second common DSN address range, and a third memory device that is associated with a third common DSN address range. Each DST execution unit may be implemented utilizing the DST execution unit 36 of FIG. 1. The DSN functions to prioritize rebuilding of encoded data slices, where the one or more storage sets mirror stored data when at least two storage sets are utilized.

In an example of operation of the prioritizing of the rebuilding of the encoded data slices, the DST client module 34 detects a total number of errors for a set of memory devices, where the total number of errors includes at least one of a memory error associated with a memory device of the set of memory devices and a slice error associated with storage of an encoded data slice of a set of encoded data slices previously stored in the set of memory devices. For example, the DST client module 34 receives, via the network 24, memory device information and slice information from at least some of the DST execution units of at least one of the storage sets. For instance, the DST client module 34 detects one slice error for a first set of memory devices for a total number of errors of 1, detects one memory error for a second set of memory devices for a total number of errors of 1, and detects one memory error and two slice errors for a third set of memory devices for a total number of errors of 3.

When the total number of errors compares unfavorably to a priority error threshold level, the DST client module 34 indicates that a minimum number of error-free slices are available of the set of encoded data slices. For example, the DST client module 34 indicates that a minimum number of 10 error-free slices are available of the third set of encoded data slices when the total number of errors is six and the priority error threshold level is six when a decode threshold level k=10 and an information dispersal algorithm (IDA) width n=16.

When the minimum number of error-free slices of the set of encoded data slices are available, the DST client module 34 initiates a corresponding priority data retention process. The initiating includes selecting a mechanism of the data retention process and executing the mechanism. The selecting of the mechanism may be based on one or more of a number of available slices, a data type indicator, a data priority indicator, a data owner identifier, a predetermination, a request, and interpreting a portion of a system registry.

A first mechanism includes recovering a data segment, encoding additional encoded data slices, and storing the additional encoded data slices. A second mechanism includes recovering the data segment, rebuilding encoded data slices of slice errors, and storing the rebuilt encoded data slices. A third mechanism includes recovering the data segment, encoding the data segment to produce a copy of the set of encoded data slices, and storing the set of encoded data slices in another set of storage units. A fourth mechanism includes recovering encoded data slices of slice errors from another set of storage units and storing a copy of the set of encoded data slices. A fifth mechanism includes temporarily suspending slice access to the set of memory devices and prioritizing rebuilding of the encoded data slices of the slice errors.

FIG. 46B is a flowchart illustrating another example of prioritizing rebuilding of encoded data slices. The method includes step 500 where a processing module (e.g., of a distributed storage and task (DST) client module) detects a total number of errors of a set of memory devices, where the total number of errors includes memory errors and slice errors. The detecting includes at least one of initiating a query, receiving a query response, and interpreting an error message.

When the total number of errors compares unfavorably to a priority error threshold level, the method continues at step 502 where the processing module indicates that a minimum number of error-free slices are available of the set of encoded data slices. For example, the processing module compares the total number of errors to the priority error threshold level and indicates unfavorable when the number of errors is greater than the priority error threshold level (e.g., threshold level of n−k−1).

When the minimum number of error-free slices are available of the set of encoded data slices, the method continues at step 504 where the processing module initiates a corresponding priority data retention process. The initiating includes selecting a mechanism of the data retention process and facilitating initiation of the execution of the selected mechanism.

FIG. 47A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a dispersed storage network (DSN) that includes a storage set 510, the network 24 of FIG. 1, and the distributed storage and task (DST) client module 34 of FIG. 1. The storage set includes a set of DST execution (EX) units 1-n. Each DST execution unit includes at least two memory devices, where the set of DST execution units includes at least a first set of memory devices and a second set of memory devices. For example, a first set of memory devices includes memory devices 1_1 through n_1 and a second set of memory devices includes memory devices 1_2 through n_2. The DSN functions to redistribute previously stored encoded data slices, where data is dispersed storage error encoded to produce a plurality of sets of legacy encoded data slices that are stored in the first set of memory devices.

In an example of operation of the redistributing of the previously stored encoded data slices, the DST client module 34 detects at least one newly available memory device within a DST execution unit that includes a plurality of memory devices. The plurality of memory devices includes the at least one newly available memory device and at least one legacy memory device, where the at least one legacy memory device is storing the legacy encoded data slices. The legacy encoded data slices are associated with a corresponding DSN address range. The detecting may be based on one or more of receiving a message, performing a test, interpreting a test result, and interpreting a schedule. For example, the DST client module 34 receives, via the network 24, a message from DST execution unit 2 that indicates that a memory device 2_2 is newly available within the DST execution unit 2. Alternatively, or in addition to, any DST execution unit detects any number of newly available memory devices.

Having detected the newly available memory device, the DST client module 34 identifies storage capacities of each of the plurality of memory devices. The identifying includes at least one of performing a lookup, performing a test, initiating a query, and interpreting a query response. Having identified the storage capacities, the DST client module 34 identifies the DSN address range associated with the DST execution unit. The identifying includes at least one of interpreting a system registry entry, performing a lookup, using a predetermination, issuing a query, and interpreting a query response.

Having identified the DSN address range, the DST client module 34 maps the DSN address range to each of the memory devices of the plurality of memory devices in accordance with the identified storage capacities of each of the plurality of memory devices to produce a memory mapping. For example, when the storage capacities are substantially the same for each memory device of a DST execution unit, the DST client module 34 maps a first-half of the DSN address range to the first memory device and a second half of the DSN address range to the second memory device.

Having produced the memory mapping, the DST client module 34 redistributes stored encoded data slices from one or more of the at least one legacy memory device to the plurality of memory devices in accordance with the memory mapping. For example, the processing module facilitates, for each DST execution unit, sending half of the legacy encoded data slices from the first memory device to the second memory device. For instance, the DST client module 34 issues, via the network 24, rebalancing information 1-n to the set of DST execution units 1-n, where the rebalancing information includes instructions for the redistribution of the stored encoded data slices.

FIG. 47B is a flowchart illustrating an example of redistributing encoded data slices. The method includes step 516 where a processing module (e.g., of a distributed storage and task (DST) client module) detects at least one newly available memory device within a storage unit. The detecting includes at least one of receiving a message, interpreting a test result, and interpreting a memory edition schedule.

The method continues at step 518 where the processing module identifies storage capacities of each of a plurality of memory devices associated with the storage unit. The identifying includes at least one of interpreting system registry information, issuing a query, interpreting a query response, and performing a lookup.

The method continues at step 520 where the processing module identifies a dispersed storage network (DSN) address range associated with the storage unit. The identifying includes at least one of interpreting the system registry information, issuing a query, interpreting a query response, and performing a lookup.

The method continues at step 522 where the processing module updates a memory mapping to map the DSN address range to each of the memory devices of the plurality of memory devices to produce an updated memory mapping. For example, the processing module divides the DSN address range between the plurality of memory devices in accordance with the storage capacities of the plurality of memory devices. For example, a memory device with twice the memory capacity of another memory device is mapped to a sub-DSN address range that is twice as large as another sub-DSN address range that is mapped to the other memory device.

The method continues at step 524 where the processing module redistributes stored encoded data slices from one or more of the memory devices of the plurality of memory devices to other memory devices of the plurality of memory devices in accordance with the updated memory mapping. For example, the processing module retrieves slices associated with slice names that do not correspond to a memory device in accordance with the updated memory mapping and facilitate storage of the slices in another memory device that does correspond to the slice names.

FIG. 48A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a dispersed storage network that includes one or more storage sets 1-2, the network 24 of FIG. 1, and the distributed storage and task (DST) client module 34 of FIG. 1. Each storage set includes a set of DST execution (EX) units 1-n+1. As such, each set of DST execution units includes a number of DST execution units that is greater than an information dispersal algorithm (IDA) width number n. Each DST execution unit may include a plurality of memory devices, where each memory device is associated with a set of memory devices of the set of DST execution units. Each set of memory devices includes a number of memory devices that is greater than the IDA width number. Each set of memory devices is associated with a unique dispersed storage network (DSN) address range corresponding (e.g., common for each memory device of the set of memory devices). For example, each DST execution unit includes a first memory device that is associated with a first common DSN address range and a second memory device that is associated with a second common DSN address range. Alternatively, the set of DST execution units includes fewer than n+1 DST execution units, where the set of DST execution units includes a plurality of sets of memory devices where each set of memory devices includes a number of memory devices that is greater than the IDA width number. Each DST execution unit may be implemented utilizing the DST execution unit 36 of FIG. 1. The DSN functions to maintain data integrity of stored data, where the one or more storage sets mirror stored data when at least two storage sets are utilized.

In an example of operation of the maintaining of the data integrity, the DST client module 34 detects a potential storage issue with a memory device of a DST execution unit, where the DST execution unit includes a plurality of memory devices that includes the memory device. The detecting includes at least one of interpreting an error message, initiating a test, interpreting a test result, interpreting a memory device replacement schedule, determining that an age of the memory device compares unfavorably to a maximum age threshold level, and receiving a request. For example, the DST client module 34 detects that memory 2_1 of the DST execution unit 2 of the storage set 1 is associated with the potential storage issue based on interpreting a test result.

Having detected the potential storage issue, the DST client module 34 determines whether to temporarily transfer stored encoded data slices associated with the memory device to another memory device of the plurality of memory devices of the DST execution unit. The determining includes indicating to transfer to the other memory device when the other memory device has sufficient unused storage capacity. For instance, the DST client module 34 indicates to transfer stored encoded data slices 2 from the memory device 2_1 to the memory device 2_2 when the memory device 2_2 has sufficient storage capacity.

When not transferring the stored encoded data slices to the other memory device of the DST execution unit, the DST client module 34 identifies at least one alternate storage location. The identifying may be based on one or more of a predetermination, a round-robin alternative location list, interpreting a schedule, interpreting a portion of a system registry, determining available storage capacity of a candidate storage location, and a request. The alternate storage locations includes candidates of another DST execution unit of the set of DST execution units, and a DST execution unit of another storage set. For example, the DST client module 34 selects the memory device n+1_1 of the DST execution unit n+1 when the memory device n+1_1 has sufficient storage capacity.

Having identified the at least one alternate storage location, the DST client module 34 facilitates transfer of stored encoded data slices from the memory device to the identified at least one alternate storage location. The facilitating includes one or more of causing encryption of one or more of the stored encoded data slices to produce encrypted encoded data slices, causing transfer of the encrypted encoded data slices to the identified at least one alternate storage location. For example, the DST execution unit 2 generates a secret encryption key, temporarily stores the secret encryption key, encrypts the stored encoded data slices 2 retrieved from the memory device 2_1 using the secret encryption key to produce encrypted encoded data slices 2, issues, via the network 24, one or more write slice requests to the DST execution unit n+1, where the write slice requests includes the encrypted encoded data slices 2, and temporarily storing, by the DST execution unit n+1, received encrypted encoded data slices 2 in the memory device n+1_1.

When detecting that the potential storage issue has subsided, the DST client module 34 facilitates transfer of the stored encoded data slices from one of the at least one alternate storage locations to the memory device of the DST execution unit. For example, the DST execution unit 2 issues, via the network 24, read slice requests to the DST execution unit n+1_1, receives the encrypted encoded data slices 2, recovers the saved secret encryption key, decrypts the encrypted encoded data slices 2 using the saved secret encryption key to reproduce the encoded data slices 2, and stores the reproduced encoded data slices 2 and the memory 2_1. Alternatively, the DST execution unit 2 stores the reproduced encoded data slices 2 in another memory device (e.g., a replacement memory device, another existing memory device with sufficient storage capacity) of the DST execution unit 2.

FIG. 48B is a flowchart illustrating an example of maintaining data integrity. The method includes step 530 where a processing module (e.g., of a distributed storage and task (DST) client module) detects a potential storage issue with a memory device of a storage unit. The detecting includes at least one of receiving an error message, interpreting a test result, interpreting a memory replacement schedule, and receiving a request.

The method continues at step 532 where the processing module determines whether to temporarily transfer stored encoded data slices associated with the memory device to another memory device of the storage unit. The determining includes indicating that the transfer when the other memory device has insufficient unused storage capacity for storage of the stored encoded data slices.

When not temporarily transferring the stored encoded data slices to the other memory device of the storage unit, the method continues at step 534 where the processing module identifies at least one alternate storage location. The identifying may be based on one or more of a predetermination, a round-robin alternative location list, a schedule, a system registry, and a request.

The method continues at step 536 where the processing module facilitates transfer of the stored encoded data slices from the memory device to the identified at least one alternate storage location. For example, the processing module facilitates encryption of each encoded data slices, facilitates issuing of a write slice request to the at least one alternate storage location, where the write slice request includes the encrypted encoded data slices, and facilitates saving of an encryption key associated with the encryption and an identifier of the alternate storage location.

When detecting that the potential storage issue has subsided, the method continues at step 538 where the processing module facilitates transfer of the stored encoded data slices from one of the at least one alternate storage location to the memory device of the storage unit. For example, the processing module identifies the alternate storage location, facilitates recovery of the encryption key, facilitates issuing of a read slice request to recover the encrypted encoded data slices, facilitates decryption of the recovered encryption encoded data slices from the read slice responses using the recovered encryption key to reproduce the encoded data slices, and facilitate storage of the reproduced encoded data slices in the memory device and/or a replacement memory device. Alternatively, or in addition to, the processing module facilitates deletion of the stored encoded data slices from each of the at least one alternate storage locations after confirmation of transfer to the memory device.

As may be used herein, the terms “substantially” and “approximately” provides an industry-accepted tolerance for its corresponding term and/or relativity between items. Such an industry-accepted tolerance ranges from less than one percent to fifty percent and corresponds to, but is not limited to, component values, integrated circuit process variations, temperature variations, rise and fall times, and/or thermal noise. Such relativity between items ranges from a difference of a few percent to magnitude differences. As may also be used herein, the term(s) “operably coupled to”, “coupled to”, and/or “coupling” includes direct coupling between items and/or indirect coupling between items via an intervening item (e.g., an item includes, but is not limited to, a component, an element, a circuit, and/or a module) where, for indirect coupling, the intervening item does not modify the information of a signal but may adjust its current level, voltage level, and/or power level. As may further be used herein, inferred coupling (i.e., where one element is coupled to another element by inference) includes direct and indirect coupling between two items in the same manner as “coupled to”. As may even further be used herein, the term “operable to” or “operably coupled to” indicates that an item includes one or more of power connections, input(s), output(s), etc., to perform, when activated, one or more its corresponding functions and may further include inferred coupling to one or more other items. As may still further be used herein, the term “associated with”, includes direct and/or indirect coupling of separate items and/or one item being embedded within another item. As may be used herein, the term “compares favorably”, indicates that a comparison between two or more items, signals, etc., provides a desired relationship. For example, when the desired relationship is that signal 1 has a greater magnitude than signal 2, a favorable comparison may be achieved when the magnitude of signal 1 is greater than that of signal 2 or when the magnitude of signal 2 is less than that of signal 1.

As may also be used herein, the terms “processing module”, “processing circuit”, and/or “processing unit” may be a single processing device or a plurality of processing devices. Such a processing device may be a microprocessor, micro-controller, digital signal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device that manipulates signals (analog and/or digital) based on hard coding of the circuitry and/or operational instructions. The processing module, module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit may be, or further include, memory and/or an integrated memory element, which may be a single memory device, a plurality of memory devices, and/or embedded circuitry of another processing module, module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, random access memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamic memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any device that stores digital information. Note that if the processing module, module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit includes more than one processing device, the processing devices may be centrally located (e.g., directly coupled together via a wired and/or wireless bus structure) or may be distributedly located (e.g., cloud computing via indirect coupling via a local area network and/or a wide area network). Further note that if the processing module, module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit implements one or more of its functions via a state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry, the memory and/or memory element storing the corresponding operational instructions may be embedded within, or external to, the circuitry comprising the state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry. Still further note that, the memory element may store, and the processing module, module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit executes, hard coded and/or operational instructions corresponding to at least some of the steps and/or functions illustrated in one or more of the Figures. Such a memory device or memory element can be included in an article of manufacture.

The present invention has been described above with the aid of method steps illustrating the performance of specified functions and relationships thereof. The boundaries and sequence of these functional building blocks and method steps have been arbitrarily defined herein for convenience of description. Alternate boundaries and sequences can be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships are appropriately performed. Any such alternate boundaries or sequences are thus within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention. Further, the boundaries of these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined for convenience of description. Alternate boundaries could be defined as long as the certain significant functions are appropriately performed. Similarly, flow diagram blocks may also have been arbitrarily defined herein to illustrate certain significant functionality. To the extent used, the flow diagram block boundaries and sequence could have been defined otherwise and still perform the certain significant functionality. Such alternate definitions of both functional building blocks and flow diagram blocks and sequences are thus within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention. One of average skill in the art will also recognize that the functional building blocks, and other illustrative blocks, modules and components herein, can be implemented as illustrated or by discrete components, application specific integrated circuits, processors executing appropriate software and the like or any combination thereof.

The present invention may have also been described, at least in part, in terms of one or more embodiments. An embodiment of the present invention is used herein to illustrate the present invention, an aspect thereof, a feature thereof, a concept thereof, and/or an example thereof. A physical embodiment of an apparatus, an article of manufacture, a machine, and/or of a process that embodies the present invention may include one or more of the aspects, features, concepts, examples, etc. described with reference to one or more of the embodiments discussed herein. Further, from figure to figure, the embodiments may incorporate the same or similarly named functions, steps, modules, etc. that may use the same or different reference numbers and, as such, the functions, steps, modules, etc. may be the same or similar functions, steps, modules, etc. or different ones.

While the transistors in the above described figure(s) is/are shown as field effect transistors (FETs), as one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, the transistors may be implemented using any type of transistor structure including, but not limited to, bipolar, metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFET), N-well transistors, P-well transistors, enhancement mode, depletion mode, and zero voltage threshold (VT) transistors.

Unless specifically stated to the contra, signals to, from, and/or between elements in a figure of any of the figures presented herein may be analog or digital, continuous time or discrete time, and single-ended or differential. For instance, if a signal path is shown as a single-ended path, it also represents a differential signal path. Similarly, if a signal path is shown as a differential path, it also represents a single-ended signal path. While one or more particular architectures are described herein, other architectures can likewise be implemented that use one or more data buses not expressly shown, direct connectivity between elements, and/or indirect coupling between other elements as recognized by one of average skill in the art.

The term “module” is used in the description of the various embodiments of the present invention. A module includes a processing module, a functional block, hardware, and/or software stored on memory for performing one or more functions as may be described herein. Note that, if the module is implemented via hardware, the hardware may operate independently and/or in conjunction software and/or firmware. As used herein, a module may contain one or more sub-modules, each of which may be one or more modules.

While particular combinations of various functions and features of the present invention have been expressly described herein, other combinations of these features and functions are likewise possible. The present invention is not limited by the particular examples disclosed herein and expressly incorporates these other combinations. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprises: generating, by a computing device, a set of write requests regarding a set of encoded data slices, wherein a write request of the set of write requests includes an encoded data slice of the set of encoded data slices, a corresponding slice name, and a transaction number corresponding to the set of write requests; sending, by the computing device, the set of write requests to a set of storage units; generating, by each of at least some of the storage units of the set of storage units, a write response that includes the transaction number and a list of revision levels corresponding to the slice name; receiving, by the computing device, the write responses from the at least some of the storage units, wherein the write responses includes at least a decode threshold number of write responses; determining, by the computing device, a most current revision level regarding the set of encoded data slices based on the lists of revision levels from the at least some of the storage units; and generating, by the computing device, a set of write commit messages, wherein a write commit message of the set of write commit messages includes the transaction number and a new revision level for the set of encoded data slices.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the write response further comprises: a particular slice name corresponding to a particular encoded data slice of the set of encoded data slices.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating the write response comprises: identifying stored encoded data slices having the slice name; determining revision values for each of the stored encoded data slices; and generating the list of revision levels based on the revision values.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the most current revision level comprises: reviewing the lists of revision levels from the at least some of the storage units to determine a highest revision value, wherein the lists of revision levels includes a list of revision values for the corresponding slice name; and utilizing the highest revision value as the most current revision level.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the most current revision level comprises: reviewing the lists of revision levels from the at least some of the storage units to determine a highest revision value in a threshold number of lists of revision levels, wherein the lists of revision levels includes a list of revision values for the corresponding slice name; and utilizing the highest revision value in the threshold number of lists of revision levels as the most current revision level.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating the set of write commit messages comprises at least one of: determining the new revision level by incrementing the most current revision level; and determining the new revision level by performing a mathematical function on the most current revision level.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating the write response comprises: storing the encoded data slice corresponding to the slice name; restricting access to the encoded data slice pending the write commit message; and maintaining access to a previous revision level of the encoded data slice pending the write commit message.
 8. The method of claim 1 further comprises: sending, by the computing device, the set of write commit messages to the set of storage units.
 9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprises: at least one memory section that stores operational instructions that, when executed by one or more processing modules of one or more computing devices of a dispersed storage network (DSN), causes the one or more computing devices to: generate a set of write requests regarding a set of encoded data slices, wherein a write request of the set of write requests includes an encoded data slice of the set of encoded data slices, a corresponding slice name, and a transaction number corresponding to the set of write requests; send the set of write requests to a set of storage units; generate, by each of at least some of the storage units of the set of storage units, a write response that includes the transaction number and a list of revision levels corresponding to the slice name; receive the write responses from the at least some of the storage units, wherein the write responses includes at least a decode threshold number of write responses; determine a most current revision level regarding the set of encoded data slices based on the lists of revision levels from the at least some of the storage units; and generate a set of write commit messages, wherein a write commit message of the set of write commit messages includes the transaction number and a new revision level for the set of encoded data slices.
 10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the write response further comprises: a particular slice name corresponding to a particular encoded data slice of the set of encoded data slices.
 11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the one or more processing modules functions to execute the operational instructions stored by the at least one memory section to cause the one or more computing devices of the DSN to generate the write response by: identifying stored encoded data slices having the slice name; determining revision values for each of the stored encoded data slices; and generating the list of revision levels based on the revision values.
 12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the one or more processing modules functions to execute the operational instructions stored by the at least one memory section to cause the one or more computing devices of the DSN to determine the most current revision level by: reviewing the lists of revision levels from the at least some of the storage units to determine a highest revision value, wherein the lists of revision levels includes a list of revision values for the corresponding slice name; and utilizing the highest revision value as the most current revision level.
 13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the one or more processing modules functions to execute the operational instructions stored by the at least one memory section to cause the one or more computing devices of the DSN to determine the most current revision level by: reviewing the lists of revision levels from the at least some of the storage units to determine a highest revision value in a threshold number of lists of revision levels, wherein the lists of revision levels includes a list of revision values for the corresponding slice name; and utilizing the highest revision value in the threshold number of lists of revision levels as the most current revision level.
 14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the one or more processing modules functions to execute the operational instructions stored by the at least one memory section to cause the one or more computing devices of the DSN to generate the set of write commit messages comprises by at least one of: determining the new revision level by incrementing the most current revision level; and determining the new revision level by performing a mathematical function on the most current revision level.
 15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the one or more processing modules functions to execute the operational instructions stored by the at least one memory section to cause the one or more computing devices of the DSN to generate the write response by: storing the encoded data slice corresponding to the slice name; restricting access to the encoded data slice pending the write commit message; and maintaining access to a previous revision level of the encoded data slice pending the write commit message.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9 further comprises: the at least one memory section stores further operational instructions that, when executed by the one or more processing modules, causes the one or more computing devices of the DSN to: send the set of write commit messages to the set of storage units. 